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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