Ironman Canada 2011

This was my 10th Ironman and whilst I never expect these to be an easy road, this particular one was more difficult than I had hoped for.  Once the race was all over I felt like I had been ‘mentally’ dragged through a ringer, and I was relieved to enjoy a nice cold beer at the end of the night, reflecting on what had gone on.

The story started 4 weeks prior when I felt the beginning of a niggle in my left shin (a place that I had suffered a stress fra

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cture in before, so I was wary of it happening again).  I immediately pulled myself off all run training, and decided to just run the Pukekohe Raceway Duathlon where I placed 4th overall, and the NZ Duathlon Champs where I placed 2nd in my Age Group.  This showed I had good run speed, but I was unsure about my endurance, but it was too late to make amends for it.  I went into damage control mode and felt some great improvements until sunday last week once we flew into Vancouver – by now my shin had flared up a bit more.

Back pedal 1 week, when we were driving back from the Duathlon Champs in Taupo during the beginnings of a strong southerly storm.  Approaching Putuaruru I heard a loud bang and saw in the rearview mirror my much beloved Avanti Chrono race bike be flung across the road.  Somehow the racks had given way in a gust of wind and the unthinkable was happening right then and there.  Suddenly I went from being confident in having a good race at Canada, to even wondering if I could get a replacement bike sorted out in time.  I did what everyone else does at moments like these……posted on Facebook what had just happened.  Literally within minutes I had received replies, text messages and phone calls from people offering me the use of their own race bikes for the Ironman.  This was incredible as it is a big thing to trust somebody with such an expensive and valued piece of equipment.  Thanks to all those people.

I was lucky enough that Amanda Till at Avanti Bikes knew of a bike in their warehouse that was the exact frame size as my one, and only needed the aerobars adjusted slightly to fit me perfectly.  Whats better, is that it was the bike that Cameron Brown (10x NZ Ironman Champion) used when he won the 2010 NZ Ironman – wow, what a piece of history to ride.  Great, game on again!!

In the mean time I was also arranging for some wheels that I ordered for Kellee to race on to be sent to the place we were staying at in Penticton.  However, by the time we arrived there on Tuesday the wheels were nowhere to be seen and Canada Customs were reviewing whether they would even release the wheels for us.  A few frantic phone calls and some very stressed days later, someone from Canada Post delivered them by hand at midnight on friday night.  This gave Kellee only the chance to do a 20min ride before having to rack the bike.  Once our bikes were loaded we were finally able to concentrate on the task at hand the following day.

The forecast for race day was 30-35 degrees with a northerly wind.  Great, better than freezing like the previous year.  I went through the usual pre-race rituals, wished Kellee, Nicky and Cam good luck and headed to the water side to line up for the start.  This was to be the biggest start of any Ironman in the world (2800 people), so I was thinking positioning on the start line was going to be crucial.  I liked the look of the left side of the line, so Cam and I made our way there.

After a few moments the race was on.  I made a quick start off the line with a couple of dolphin dives and a few fast strokes and miraculously I was out on my own, looking to my right and seeing a line of swimmers forming.  This was perfect, I was light on swimming so wasn’t keen to get out of my comfort zone, and I had hardly been bumped the whole first 400m.  By the time I made my way across to the group I was relaxed and swimming well.  I spent the rest of the swim in the group, coming out in a time of 1:01, which was a bit disappointing as I had thought i was swimming faster, but it seemed like a slow swim as Bryan Rhodes led out in 50mins (about 3mins slower than usual).

I was quickly on the bike and getting into a rhythm.  We had a great tail wind for the first 60km, and I rode strong but not hard for this section, averaging 40kph by the time we turned back to the headwind.  Through this time I had ridden through a large number of riders and was feeling really confident and happy with the day so far.  The bike was a dream!

The long climb up Richter Pass was easy and I reached the 90km mark thinking of a plan for the 2nd half of the ride.  I knew where the strong wind would be on the course and I wanted to ride those parts well, so at the 105km mark when the course flattens out I pushed hard to the 150km mark, which included the climb up to Yellow Lake.  I reached the summit feeling as I expected to and was ready to enjoy the final 30km of downhill.  Unfortunately the wind didn’t want us to enjoy it and there was a strong headwind – so I was only doing 40-50kph rather than the expected 70-80kph.

I rolled into town after 5:14 on the bike, which was about what I expected in those conditions, but I was hoping to be closer to 5:00.  I had ridden from 29th in my age group to 7th, bringing me off the bike with a good shot at getting on the podium – but only if I was fit to run what I could usually.

But with my shin injury I was only wanting to make it to the finish line, I still wanted to go down fighting so I took off at my goal run pace, hoping something would click and let my body carry on, but after about 14km I began to slow and knew now it was just survival to the finish.  My shin was achy, but not sore, so I kept on knowing that as soon as it worsened I would make the call to pull out.  The run course in Penticton is tough and runs along the lake side, but has a few sharp hills out toward the turn around.  I had a few moments where I felt good, so I found myself running harder again, only to have moments where I had to back it off and just get through the next section.

Over the last 7km I found my running legs again and was back into a good rhythm, so the time at the finish wasnt as bad as I was expecting.  10:08 gave me 9th in my age group and 75th overall, which in the scheme of things – winter training, borrowed bike, wheel issues, shin injury, bugger all running – I am really happy with.

It was also great to see Kellee, Nicky and Cam have great races too, with Cam hitting 10:56 giving him a huge PB.

I would love to come back to Penticton.  It’s an awesome little town and an awesome community event.  The crowds really get behind it and you see how the locals make it their own event.  It is a hard, honest, long loop bike and single out+back run.  It is a true test of strength and mental capacity, and a great race to have been part of.

Now I have 6 weeks off to let the body recover before getting ready for the NZ tri season.

Double Down on 11

No this isn’t a lesson on how to play Blackjack, but a quick review of my KFC Double Down experience.

I had planned to get one from KFC Quay st, but the line up of trucks in the bus lane and the queue of people streaming out the door soon put me off.  I don’t like queuing for food, especially one that isn’t really worth queuing for.  So I headed to my local KFC in Glen Innes, now these guys know how to handle high demands – and sure enough, the queue was manageable for me, so I made the call to get one.  I opted out of the combo as Pepsi isn’t my cola of choice, and I wasn’t in the mood for greasy fries.

$7.90 is a lot for a burger, but the hype suggested to me it was more than just a burger.  It was an experience in indulgent eating, or so I was lead to believe.  It didn’t have a bun, lettuce, tomatoe, beetroot or an egg, so this definitely isn’t a burger.

First impression, once I made my way through the  grease laden wrapper was that it is 2 chicken fillets (with the yummy KFC seasoning that is unmistakable), a piece of ‘bacon’ a piece of faux cheese, and a piece of congealed peppery/mayonaisey substance which I guess was meant to melt into a mayonaise once placed in the bosom of the chicken fillets.  Well it didn’t melt, and it soon put me off continuing eating.  I had paid $7.90 though and I was determined to bloody well eat all of it.

I listened to Hauraki last night when Matt Heath ate 8 of them in 4 hours and he seemed to enjoy it until the 6th, from then on I think his stomach had double downed on itself and he was eating on autopilot.

On reflection I liked the seasoning, and don’t we all?  I didn’t like the fact that the grease was all over my fingers and not being absorbed by a bun, I didn’t like the lack of  lettuce and tomatoe either.

So for me the Double Down was worth trying, but I don’t think I’ll go back to it.  Give me a decent McDonalds Kiwi Burger any day.

My athletes can look forward to this workout next time you have an indoor trainer session planned

click on the video link.  Don’t be fooled, this guy isn’t very cool

New Kask TT helmet video

Here is a video talking about the development of the new Kask Helmets in collaboration with Team Sky.

That TT helmet looks awesome and will be great for long course athletes.  Its hard to keep your head in a position to maximise the aerodynamics of a typical long tail helmet.  Looks mean too.

A short article worth a few minutes to read

I don’t wear a cheerleaders outfit or carry pom-poms, so my athletes needn’t worry

http://blog.trainingpeaks.com/2011/04/athletes-need-coaches-not-cheerleaders.html

New helmet – Kask Vertigo

I just got the new Kask Vertigo helmet.  I haven’t had a chance to ride it yet – tomorrow for that.

First impressions are that it is very well made.  It feels super light to wear, the straps are a nice soft leather and the padding in the helmet is also light, and looks like it would perform well if wet – sweat, water or rain.

Perhaps the best feature is the retention system around the back of the head.  It seems to have an excellent hold on the head and some nice soft silicon pads at the main contact points.  Also the tightening mechanism looks easy to adjust quickly and on the fly.

For more info check http://www.italiatech.com.au/brands/overview/kask/

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You know if Cippollini is wearing it then it must be cool!

Tri Off-Road Taupo

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I had heard a rumour that this race was going to be in the pipeline some years ago, so when I heard it was on I was keen to be one of the ‘pioneer athletes’.

Coming off the bike

 

The concept worked on me (pretty well).  A down river 1500m swim – sweet, easy to swim but possibly technical.  A long 33km MTB ride mostly on the technical Craters of the Moon track – my skills aren’t great and I didn’t know the course but I have been riding single track ok of late.  The final leg, a 11km trail run – I know this course very well and knew it was going be a very testing leg.  All up a great combination of events, which would have been made even better if the sun was shining.  But no, as was the theme at Ironman, this was another solid wet day.

Setting up in transition was pitch black and raining.  All good, I was the 1st bike there so got the pick of the transition spots.  We drove to Cherry Island which is where the race started and I suited up.  Doing my swim warm-up was great, just point up-stream and swim into the flow, like an endless pool.

I had done a bit of homework the day before and had a good look at the flow in the river and the activity of the water in the first few hundred metres.  My river reading skills from paddling came in handy here, I could see there was a definite eddy flow tight on the 1st bend and then it cut back across the other side of the river quite soon after, so this was sorted.  I also knew there was an island half way down and that the right hand side was the best line to take.

The swim start was great.  I was right into a good position next to Scott Thorne and thought that I would just stay there for the remainder.  I was having trouble sighting as it was still dark and my eye-sight isn’t flash, and this became evident when I couldn’t see the island properly – shit, I was heading down the left branch, and it was too late to change my direction.  I just had to go with it.  The flow there was very boily and shifty, and I was getting washed around a bit.  My mate Dave Allaway was following me and he ended up coming my way too.  I swam really hard to get back to the main flow, and managed to slip into a long line of swimmers, gutted that I had just made such an easy mistake.  I exited the water in 15:53!  And that was still 90 seconds down on Scott – GUTTED!  And to make things worse I kicked a rock, and partially tore my big toenail back.

Onto the bike I quickly got into a rhythm, as best as one can on MTB trails, and tried to make up some time.  Thing is there was no-one in sight in front, and I could only hear the brakes of the guy behind me.  My plan was to not let him catch me, and hope that I might pull some of the guys up front in as the ride went on.  I found the bike course tough and technical, however Scott, Cabin and co probably found it quite straight forward.  It was a lonely ride for me, the bloke behind had fallen back further and I still hadnt caught anyone.  It remained this way until the last km on the bike when I caught Graham Pearson, which cheered me up as last year he wasted me in the Xterra ride.  Ride time of 1:48, and my quads were beginning to protest the work I was making them do.  It was nice to see Al Campbell and Kellee out there in the pouring rain cheering us on, as it wasn’t pleasant for the spectators – they should have gone to the movies.

I started the run hard as I knew Graham would probably catch me.  My quads were cramping, but I kept telling myself that its only for about 50 minutes and just put up with the pain.  I was surprised Graham wasn’t catching me, and apart from my legs the rest of me felt pretty good, so I kept the intensity up and kept digging in.  The last 2km was a brutal tight track with some stairs, and I was certain I would get caught there, I even had to have a bit of a walk.

By the end of it I was well spent, 3 weeks after Ironman I guess I should expect.  But I really enjoyed this race, and I will certainly be back next year to tackle it again.  Well done to Scott, Cabin and Tim Wilding for dominating it, those guys can do some amazing things on mountain bikes.  Wayne Reardon puts on good events, and it will be good to see this race get supported more next year.

Ironman 2011 Report

Firstly, a big thank you to Tom from Power Balance for helping me get to the start-line.  It was great to see a buzz of people around the Power Balance stand in the expo in the days before the race.

I never thought I would have to race in as much rain as I did during the 2010 Coast to Coast however, the weather at Ironman this year was attrocious.  The rain certainly wasn’t as heavy as at the Coast to Coast – that day it only lasted for 4 hours.  At Ironman it rained on me from the second I stepped out the door in the morning to the second I stepped back in that same door to go to sleep (I did have 30mins in the post race tent).  Those Ironmen out there unitl the end had it way harder than me – and I would classthe volunteers and spectators as Ironmen too after their fantastic effort on the day.   But enough about the weather, it was what it was, the racing was the main thing.  And that is why I line up every year in Lake Taupo, on the 1st weekend in March.

For me the race panned out about as I expected.  Of course I always have that ‘ultimate’ race plan (for the given level of fitness), and it wasn’t until as late as half way through the run, when my lack of run mileage caught up with me, that I deviated from Plan-A.  I finished in 9:48:20, which is only 11 minutes short of my PB, and 8 minutes on the NZ Ironman course.  So, yes in hindsight I am happy.  It seemed a long time from the begining of January that I was miserable because I had only just started running and cycling, after my hip injury, and 8 weeks to an Ironman doesn’t give much time to train for a good one.  I knew I had trained hard and focussed for that time, so come race day I was confident of a good race.

There was a miserable vibe in the transition area in the morning as people were setting up.  I decided to make my way to the swim start earlier than usual as I figured I may as well get in the water, as i was already soaking wet, and I didn’t want to get cold.  I was surprised how dark it was due to the heavy cloud cover and pouring rain.  I watched the pro start and could barely see them swim into the distance.  The rest of us were due to start 15 minutes later so I wandered into the water, making my way out the right side of the start line, where the crowds tend to stay away from.  I caught up with a few mates out there – Nick and Jess Lawson, Nick Kensington and my swim coach Jana, and we all had a bit of a nervous joke…….BANG!  The cannon took me by surprise, and before I knew it I was swimming like crazy trying to get on Nick Lawson’s feet, as he is the size of an aircraft carrier and has a powerful bow wave to ride on – I missed him, never mind, I still had a good working group.  I was amazed how quickly the swim went, and I came out in a good time for me, 57:18.  I was wearing the superb new Aquasphere Phantom wetsuit and I really think this helped me to a good swim time.  Running through the crowds on the run to transition is a special feeling, seeing familiar faces cheering for me, and getting some info on who is in front of me.  I always go through transition as fast as I can as I love to get on the bike and get moving.  Everyone else is standing still, so I figure its an easy time to pass people.

My had a lot more confidence going into this race as I had trained with an SRM Power Meter, and was using it on the day.  I had put in some really good test sets in the month before so I knew the watts I was capable of riding at.  This time I was going to ride hard at the start for the 1st 90km and then settle in once I had broken from the crowds.  This was a new tactic for me as I usually ride the 3rd quarter harder.  I really enjoyed ripping past people on the way to Reporoa.  I knew I was able to ride this fast as the SRM told me so.  Coming up to the 45km turn-around I got a sight of the groups in front and was a bit frustrated that I hadn’t bridged to them, but heading back I saw that I had put some good time on the guys I passed earlier.  The return journey was with a good tailwind so continued to push hard.  My quads were beginning to tire a bit, which concerned me, but I soon shut that doubt out and kept pushing.

I went through halfway in bang on 2:30, and I knew the 2nd lap takes 8 minutes longer, and that I was going to ride a bit slower too, so I figured I must be on 5:10 pace, which I was very happy with.  That’s provided my legs hold out for 180km.  The 2nd trip back to Reporoa was good.  I had a good group of strong cyclists come past me, and it was what I needed to keep me pushing myself, also we were going into a headwind, which even at 7m behind the rider in front, can give some advantage to the following rider.  All 5 of us were working well together taking up the pace as the one in front would ease up a bit.  We had a draft buster with us for a lot of this section, so we knew we were all riding fairly.  At the final turn around I felt good and picked the pace up more, coming home well and passing a few riders who were beginning to feel the effects of the long ride.  One of these was Mirinda Carfrae, the current womans Ironman World Champion, I wasn’t aware that she had suffered 2 punctures by this time, so i was very chuffed that I was passing her.  It isn’t everyday you get to pass the world champ!  I came off the bike in 5:10, thankful to my Avanti Quantum bike, my back wasn’t sore and my legs felt great.

By now I had kind of forgotten about the rain, and it wasn’t until I was running that I realised how wet the day was.  I hit the run course on my target heart rate and dialled it into cruise control.  Carfrae came past me at 8km and I thought “well I still have 15 minutes on her, so she has to run pretty well to beat me.”  She ended up putting 30mins on me, beat me by 15 and ended up coming 2nd in the womens division – What a star!

I was running well for the first 21km, and went through the first half in 1:40.  Suddenly it was like someone flicked a switch.  I went from feeling great to feeling absolute rubbish in the space of a few seconds!  What was happening?  My heart rate dropped to 30bpm below target, my legs felt heavy and I was getting light in the head.  Oh my god, I hit the wall!  This wasn’t meant to happen.  I jogged past the Foot Traffic tent where my friends and family were putting it all into my day for me, and I simply couldn’t be bothered.  I almost stopped there, but knew I couldn’t as I didn’t want to disappoiint them.  Both Kellee and my parents remarked later to me that I looked like rubbish then.  I carried on 100m further and then stopped, put my hands on my knees, looked back down the road, and thought “I can’t be bothered walking another 21km”.  And then a few mates ran past me and tapped me on the back, giving some encouragement.  So I thought, well perhaps if I walk then at least I finish, I was prepared to be happy with a time around 11hours by now, so off I went.  After a few steps I thought I might try an easy jog, which happened to be at the top of a rise, so I had a few hundred metres of down to get moving again.  I made it to the next aid station, knocked back a caffienated carbohydrate gel and got running again.  And then something happened, my heart rate came back up, my legs felt a bit more lively and my pace wasn’t too bad.  From that point on I seemed to get stronger.  I was running past the guys who came by earlier, I had a strong stride and my negative thoughts were gone!

Coming down the last KM I was so happy to finish.  Never before had I been that low in a race that I actually stop and decide to pull out.  I’m so glad something in me told me to harden up and get going again.  I ran past my mate Bryce Edwards, smiled at him and said “I almost pulled out mate”, he laughed and said “I know mate, but you didn’t”.

This was my 9th Ironman, it wasn’t the hardest physically, but certainly mentally it was right up there.  A friend of mine (Matthew van den Berg) has helped me over the past month with breath and mind concentration through Reiki.  I think what this has taught me is how to direct breathing through the parts of the body that need it the most.  When my legs were tired halfway through the bike I would concentrate on taking my breath down to my leg muscles, when I was struggling on the run I would concentrate on long controlled breaths and turn around to a more positive attitude – looking at the people in front and thinking about catching each one, as I did I would give  a wry smile and aim for the next person.

Immediately after the race I decided that this was to be my last.  But in the hours and days following I went through various aspects of the day, how it felt to be going well, how it felt to be going bad, and how I much I wanted to feel the power in that finish chute over and over again.  So guess what, I am racing Ironman Canada this year in August, and I definitely will be lining up in Lake Taupo in a years time on the 1st weekend on March!  As Tiare Lund said to me the other day “It’s just what we do”

Check in again as there will be more photos to come

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IRONMAN Eve

I am sitting on the couch with me feet up, my bike is racked, training is done for the day.  The rest of the day is going to consist of me going to the movies and having an early dinner with some of my friends and family.  This is pretty much how it goes the day before an Ironman.  There is nothing else that can be done to improve in fitness and speed, however plenty can still be done to potentially ruin the day for me tomorrow.  That is precisely why I am sitting down, drinking loads of fluids and having a wee doze every once in a while.

I must give a big thankyou to the team at Power Balance who helped me greatly to get to the startline.  Tom and the crew there have a great product, and their expo stand was buzzing all week with interested people.

Ironman has finally come round after a fairly short and intensive build.  Since I recovered from my hip injury in Janurary I have been focussed totally on getting fit and fast for the Ironman.  I haven’t packed in the miles, but I have done some good quality sessions.  My SRM Power Meter and Garmin GPS watch have both been a massive help in my training as I have been able to get so much more specific.  The last few weeks have shown some good improvements in threshold power on the bike and my run heart rates have settled into what I think is a pretty good rhythm for a strong Ironman run.  The last couple of swims in the lake have been great, the water is easy to grab, the temperature is just right and there has been barely a ripple on the water.  All those crazy choppy Kohi Swim Series races have been a great help in building my open water swim strength.  My run this morning felt superb, and I will remember how smooth and comfortable I felt during that when the going gets tough in the later stages tomorrow.

I had a nice confidence boosting race 2 weeks ago in Mangawhai, which I won, and this has shown that I have some snap in the old legs still.

I have also improved my general diet greatly, and this is got me to the startline in a good shape for race day – not too light, constantly well fed and injury free.  Thanks Body Plus for your help here.  They are a great new company who are perfectly suited to the busy needs of Ironman athletes.  I highly recommend checking them out.

Tomorrow will be interesting.  At this stage it looks like it will be wet, with a steady northerly wind, which all things going well should give us a sweet tail wind for the final 45km slog back to Taupo.  Here’s hoping, I love riding in the wind, especially if it is blowing me back home.  I am not sure how the run will go for me, as the mileage has been well down, but I have a ton of endurance, so lets hope it is there to help me get the most out of me.

A big thankyou to those companies who have helped me so much over the years, and I always enjoy informing people of your products and how they can help people improve.

• Avanti Plus Waipuna – My Avanti Chrono is in top form and is an absolute joy to ride.  There is no better bike on the planet, except perhaps the new Avanti Evo 2, but that isnt in production yet.
• New Balance – I have pulled out my new, clean, fresh 769 racing shoes.  These make my run so comfortable and enjoyable.  I wore them today for the 1st time and they were perfect.
• Power Balance – Thank you for giving me the opportunity to race Ironman NZ 2011.  You have an excellent product, and everyone is wearing them from what I have seen.
• Salice – The best sunglasses in the world.  Italian style at its best
• SMP – The best saddles in the world, comfort all day.  Again Italian style.
• Aquasphere – The new Phantom wetsuit is the hottest product in Ironman and truely has to be tried to be believed
• Muscle Plus – The guys there have helped me get my crazy metabolism under control.  I am eating better, weight is stable and feeling fresh as.

Stay tuned in a couple of days time for a report.

Cheers,