Thought about this on my recent flight from Vancouver to London. After 12 years of flying between New Zealand and the UK at least once per year; sometimes more I have a dedicated list that I will NOT travel without.
*** this is in addition to obvious travel essentials like passport, tickets etc. Just in case any reader thinks I can transcend myself through check-ins and immigration counters.:)
1. Aspirin ( help prevent blood clots)
2. Nurofen, sleeping tabs ( or antihistamines that are of the drowsy kind)
3. Ipod (usually loaded with imtalk or marathontalk podcasts,
4. Skull Candy ear buds - make EXCELLENT earplugs and better sound quality for the inflight movies!
5. Compression socks to wear inflight (prefer the CEP ones ).Prevents cankle formation!
6. Eyedrops, lip balm , small pot of moisturiser, cleansing wipes, small toothpaste+toothbrush, deoderant,
7. Clean pair of underwear - if travelling betw nz + uk. 30+ hrs in the same underwear = eeeuw.
8. Microfleece that I wear if reqd and can then be rolled up as a neck support.
9. Empty bidon that I can ask the friendly Air NZ cabin crew to fill up and I can hydrate at leisure.
10. 2-3 electrolyte tabs ie Nuun or similar - keeps the water flavour interesting and more effective hydration.
IM Canada race report coming soon for all (1) of my avid readers
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Filling the gap- part 2
So, after a week of unpacking and re packing and organising ( combined with only an 11 hour training week to help me unload + freshen) Saturday 16th July rolled around and I was heading off to the USA and warmer climes. Travel was relatively un stressful despite EVERY single flight was delayed in some shape or form. Thus, landed in San Fransisco 90 minutes later than anticipated which turned out to be a bonus as there was NO queue to get through US immigration ( previous visits to SF have always included a wait of an hour or more to clear immigration as lots of international flights seem to arrive at the same time) so I cleared there pretty quickly and thanks to being a koru member, my bike and bag appeared almost immediately so off I trundled to the domestic terminal to check in for flight to Denver. *** I refuse to fly Air New Zealand's Star alliance partner, United airlines as have had several encounters with their ground staff who seem to decide on the spot, according to mood, how much to extort for bike carriage and excess weight.****
So had chosen to flyfrontier airlines who I must commend - $20 for each of my bags; with the very pleasant check in lad overlooking the fact my bike was 3lb over the 50lb limit! This flight was delayed however, so had to spend 3 hours sifting around. Thank god for free wireless!
Finally arrived in Denver at 8pm, entertained by all the forked lightening I could see out the window:))
Andy, who's home I would be living in for the next 16 days ( thanks to the help of Boulder tri club who put me in touch with their members ) kindly picked me up from the airport and we drove home to Broomfield, which is about 20 km SE of Boulder but still in Boulder county.
The family (wife Erin who is from NZ, Cameron 12, Emily 11 and Makenna 9 plus Fresno(dog) + Toby ( cat)) were most hospitable and I had a thoroughly enjoyable and stress free stay and can't thank them enough for their generosity,
So, 10 days to acclimitise to the heat and the altitude before EC women's camp began and time to get some solid work done away from the constraints of winter, work, earthquakes etc.
Found my way around and thanks to Andy, had a free 2 week pass to 24 hour fitness who had a 3 lane lap pool that was always quiet and preferable to the local rec centre where the lane swimming was limited and the water was waaaaay too warm for decent swim workouts! Followed coach's orders and stayed "low" ( well, 5430 feet ) so rode a loop that took me round Louisville then up past Boulder reservoir and along the road towards Lyons then turning off through some rolling farmlands and back to Broomfield. I was delighted to find an excellent coffee shop in a small place called Niwot, along that road.
Anyway, before I digress into tedious descriptions of daily workouts/coffee stops. I will sign off from this post.... next exciting installment shall be a report of the camp.
So had chosen to flyfrontier airlines who I must commend - $20 for each of my bags; with the very pleasant check in lad overlooking the fact my bike was 3lb over the 50lb limit! This flight was delayed however, so had to spend 3 hours sifting around. Thank god for free wireless!
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| Fresno. Its a dog's life |
Finally arrived in Denver at 8pm, entertained by all the forked lightening I could see out the window:))
Andy, who's home I would be living in for the next 16 days ( thanks to the help of Boulder tri club who put me in touch with their members ) kindly picked me up from the airport and we drove home to Broomfield, which is about 20 km SE of Boulder but still in Boulder county.
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| The Tobemeister |
So, 10 days to acclimitise to the heat and the altitude before EC women's camp began and time to get some solid work done away from the constraints of winter, work, earthquakes etc.
Found my way around and thanks to Andy, had a free 2 week pass to 24 hour fitness who had a 3 lane lap pool that was always quiet and preferable to the local rec centre where the lane swimming was limited and the water was waaaaay too warm for decent swim workouts! Followed coach's orders and stayed "low" ( well, 5430 feet ) so rode a loop that took me round Louisville then up past Boulder reservoir and along the road towards Lyons then turning off through some rolling farmlands and back to Broomfield. I was delighted to find an excellent coffee shop in a small place called Niwot, along that road.
Anyway, before I digress into tedious descriptions of daily workouts/coffee stops. I will sign off from this post.... next exciting installment shall be a report of the camp.
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| Mmmm latte, pumpkin bread +almond butter.Food of champions |
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Filling in the gaps....part1
Aaaaagh ......despite the best of intentions yet again, it has been ages since my last blog post. I must aim to keep the blogs a little shorter but more frequent - consistency is the key, right?? As with all things training.
Anyway, to fill in since my last post I was getting back into some good training again before the weather really turned to pants; my focus being on rebuilding some strength in the gym and in the pool plenty aerobic steady state sessions. With no locum jobs in Edinburgh on the horizon I was at a bit of a loss as to how to structure the months leading up to IM Canada. I wasn't too comfortable with the idea of just not working for 4 months given that earthquakes and recession had affected our business quite a bit.
So, I took a locum job down in Invercargill for 5 weeks. I left at Queens birthday weekend and split the journey up by spending a night in Dunedin, which was great as gave me the chance to catch up with Helen while there. Next day i drove the 200km to Invercargill and managed to find the house I was to live in relatively easily. I didn't have a key or a contact number of the person that would be there but luckily Hannah was home. I was somewhat alarmed when she answered the door though and I could see her breath in the hallway!! Oh ****** another freezing, damp kiwi house. I was assured that the house had coal fired central heating and was usually warm but they had missed the coal delivery on Friday and wouldnt have any until the following day.
Anyhow, the house was pretty warm ( especially my room which had 2 radiators and was above the boiler!!) and the 4 twenty somethings that live there were all great people. 2 lawyers ( Kathryn and Charlie) Hannah ( who was the pa of one of the practice owners) and Simon ( who worked for Venture Southland).
The practice I was working in , Reekie+Harris, was a long established practice in central Invercargill. I was covering for Alistair (Reekie) who had had back surgery and was unable to be back at work til the surgeon gave the OK. I had chosen to work only 4 days with the intention that having an extra day midweek to get a decent ride in should the weather turn to pants at the weekend - and also so that I wasn't doing all my rides on the wind trainer.
I thoroughly enjoyed it there; totally different type of clientele from Linwood ( I saw only one beneficiary the entire 5 weeks of working there!!) and the staff were great too. The equipment was pretty old - no fibre optics or ultrasonic scalers etc and I found that a little frustrating at times but hey, nothing's perfect?!!
So rather than waffling on ( as am wont to do.......and struggling with brevity...) I've listed highlights+lowlights of my placement in Invercargill:-
Highlights:-
Living approx 500m from Splash Palace aquatic centre ( 50m pool).
Masters sessions at said pool were excellent (5.30am starts!) coach gave plenty tech feedback and Monday morning sessions were a big redline/hammerfest for me to keep up. Great!!
Being within walking distance of everything-10 min walk to work, to the supermarket, town, pool
Found new roads to ride on that were pretty quiet traffic wise and some very scenic.Refreshing to not be looking at the same tarmac!
Still able to get a decent coffee ( Rain espresso round the corner from work, Zookeepers cafe)
Despite being a smaller place, Invercargill has excellent facilities funded for mostly by the Invercargill licensing trust. This means you can't buy wine or beer in the supermarket. Didnt bother me too much though :)
Mrs Clarks cafe in Riverton. Yummy date scone, great coffee.
Being blown to bits and horizontal rain then getting shelter running in and out of all the tracks on Bluff Hill.
Sandy Point running tracks. My favourite place to run, followed by a coffee by the fire at ziffs.
No earthquakes or aftershocks or piles of bricks/rubble/road craters/orange cones
I was lucky with the weather while I was there. Pretty freezing and a few windy wet days but I left before the real winter snap hit, which no doubt would have affected my training.
Southland tri club 's winter duathlon at Teretonga raceway. Fun blow out the cobwebs on a Sunday morning and a friendly bunch of people. They seem to have a pretty active tri + multisport club there and the subs to join and race entries are very reasonable. Lots of events on the spring/summer race calendar there which would make it a great training spot....you also get more daylight!!
Was not too windy during my rides.
Lowlights:-
Rain was only open Mon-Fri !
No wireless internet at home so I had to get a Vodem stick from Vodafone. Crap, overpriced and slow and seems to have made any current wireless connections on my laptop rather erratic.We dont get free wireless at Starbucks in NZ.
Alberto got very dirty with all the winter riding!
Lack of decent hills in Invercargill itself. Plenty rollers if you head inland or toward the Catlins and gentle rollers on the coastal route.
The looooooong drive home - 7 hours behind the wheel.
I think it could blow like buggery in Spring and summer - when you ride the Tuatapere road, the trees are all bent by the prevailing SW wind.
So after a fruitful 5 weeks on the work and training front (little else for me to do really!!!) I headed back to Chch for a week before departing for my USA/Canada trip. Next exciting installment will be from Boulder, Colorado.
Anyway, to fill in since my last post I was getting back into some good training again before the weather really turned to pants; my focus being on rebuilding some strength in the gym and in the pool plenty aerobic steady state sessions. With no locum jobs in Edinburgh on the horizon I was at a bit of a loss as to how to structure the months leading up to IM Canada. I wasn't too comfortable with the idea of just not working for 4 months given that earthquakes and recession had affected our business quite a bit.
So, I took a locum job down in Invercargill for 5 weeks. I left at Queens birthday weekend and split the journey up by spending a night in Dunedin, which was great as gave me the chance to catch up with Helen while there. Next day i drove the 200km to Invercargill and managed to find the house I was to live in relatively easily. I didn't have a key or a contact number of the person that would be there but luckily Hannah was home. I was somewhat alarmed when she answered the door though and I could see her breath in the hallway!! Oh ****** another freezing, damp kiwi house. I was assured that the house had coal fired central heating and was usually warm but they had missed the coal delivery on Friday and wouldnt have any until the following day.
Anyhow, the house was pretty warm ( especially my room which had 2 radiators and was above the boiler!!) and the 4 twenty somethings that live there were all great people. 2 lawyers ( Kathryn and Charlie) Hannah ( who was the pa of one of the practice owners) and Simon ( who worked for Venture Southland).
The practice I was working in , Reekie+Harris, was a long established practice in central Invercargill. I was covering for Alistair (Reekie) who had had back surgery and was unable to be back at work til the surgeon gave the OK. I had chosen to work only 4 days with the intention that having an extra day midweek to get a decent ride in should the weather turn to pants at the weekend - and also so that I wasn't doing all my rides on the wind trainer.
I thoroughly enjoyed it there; totally different type of clientele from Linwood ( I saw only one beneficiary the entire 5 weeks of working there!!) and the staff were great too. The equipment was pretty old - no fibre optics or ultrasonic scalers etc and I found that a little frustrating at times but hey, nothing's perfect?!!
So rather than waffling on ( as am wont to do.......and struggling with brevity...) I've listed highlights+lowlights of my placement in Invercargill:-
Highlights:-
Living approx 500m from Splash Palace aquatic centre ( 50m pool).
Masters sessions at said pool were excellent (5.30am starts!) coach gave plenty tech feedback and Monday morning sessions were a big redline/hammerfest for me to keep up. Great!!
Being within walking distance of everything-10 min walk to work, to the supermarket, town, pool
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| Locals in the Catlins |
Still able to get a decent coffee ( Rain espresso round the corner from work, Zookeepers cafe)
Despite being a smaller place, Invercargill has excellent facilities funded for mostly by the Invercargill licensing trust. This means you can't buy wine or beer in the supermarket. Didnt bother me too much though :)
Mrs Clarks cafe in Riverton. Yummy date scone, great coffee.
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| Next stop Antarctica...!! |
Sandy Point running tracks. My favourite place to run, followed by a coffee by the fire at ziffs.
No earthquakes or aftershocks or piles of bricks/rubble/road craters/orange cones
I was lucky with the weather while I was there. Pretty freezing and a few windy wet days but I left before the real winter snap hit, which no doubt would have affected my training.
Southland tri club 's winter duathlon at Teretonga raceway. Fun blow out the cobwebs on a Sunday morning and a friendly bunch of people. They seem to have a pretty active tri + multisport club there and the subs to join and race entries are very reasonable. Lots of events on the spring/summer race calendar there which would make it a great training spot....you also get more daylight!!
Was not too windy during my rides.
Lowlights:-
No wireless internet at home so I had to get a Vodem stick from Vodafone. Crap, overpriced and slow and seems to have made any current wireless connections on my laptop rather erratic.We dont get free wireless at Starbucks in NZ.
Alberto got very dirty with all the winter riding!
Lack of decent hills in Invercargill itself. Plenty rollers if you head inland or toward the Catlins and gentle rollers on the coastal route.
The looooooong drive home - 7 hours behind the wheel.
I think it could blow like buggery in Spring and summer - when you ride the Tuatapere road, the trees are all bent by the prevailing SW wind.
So after a fruitful 5 weeks on the work and training front (little else for me to do really!!!) I headed back to Chch for a week before departing for my USA/Canada trip. Next exciting installment will be from Boulder, Colorado.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Ironwidow's Race Report of St George
Brett wrote a race report as a "view from the other side of the fence" so thought I would publish that too. Made me chuckle at times!
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| Spot the Ironwidow in Arches Nat'l Pk. (Clue: just R of centre standing on the boulders in bottom third) |
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| Ironwidow in Veyo |
The Ironwidows Race Report
Finally the day had arrived! Months of nodding in agreement to disjointed conversations and evenings of watching telly by myself while “the girl”, Chris, had another early night were over.
A strategy had been hatched with my fellow “Ironwidower”, Iain, that he would go out to the swim start and transistion one, while I would position myself early on the bike course. Then we would meet later out on the bike course.
It had dawned as forecast … hot … hair blower dry and hot! So I positioned myself where any good support crew member would … Starbucks – coffee and free internet! That way I could keep track of the swim results. Things were not looking so good … so I ordered another coffee!
During the week I had scoped out the ideal position to offer my words of support from … near the top of one of the many hills … what I hadn't counted on that bunches (cycling style) were coming through … but being honest “the girl” and the “the other girl”, Zarnia, were riding to the rules! Before I could get a word in “the girl” had told me “that was her worst IM swim!” and she was gone … oh well, things were normal I thought, nothing to worry about! Meanwhile following close behind was “the other girl” smiling and enjoying being on the bike, wahoo!
With them through the leg of the bike that leads to where the two laps start and finish, I popped home got onto the bike and crossed town, to the major corner of U18 and Snowpark canyon, here was a fast corner were there would be lots of action after a 17 mile down hill section … I arrived just as the first pros were finishing their first lap and flying they were just spectacular speeds around the corner enhanced by the sound of deep carbon wheels on a smooth surface! This was a major intersection six lanes crossed by four in the other direction, traffic control was good spectator control was scary as numbers built the edged out onto the road taking up a lane creating the blind lead in to the corner, creating more than one crash!
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| Ah, life is good. |
Right on time “the girl” came through looking focused and not saying much! Phew! Meanwhile “the other girl” came through smiling, seemingly making up some time! Between laps my fellow Ironwidower demonstrated his roots with a wee jig, when he stepped off the footpath in his barefeet on to the road. Lessoned learned I thought heat, no shade, barefeet do not mix! Only he did it a second time when the Kiwi Pro Bevin came through!
Again we split our resources the other Ironwidow moving on and I headed off to get some more fluids! But coming back I punctured … shit I hope it is only me! Ahhh the worry of support crewing, by this stage I had got back to the intersection and then could see not only cyclist coming down and into the town but also the runners heading out and back. It had now reached into the thirties and humidity was very low. I watched Chris come through on the bike what seemed a slightly faster lap than the first. I headed down into Diagonal street, where my fellow Ironwidower was held up. This street was where the cyclist and runners came in and out so was fully blocked off with three aid stations set up as party central. You wouldn't believe my luck … a second bloody puncture! As I walked down the street to the bike shop to purchase more inner tubes I spied “my girl” running towards me … elbows flying looking good with form! Sweet! I thinking, looks like we are in for a good race!
On arriving at the bike shop sitting outside were two salad dodging ironman competitors who had pulled out of the race after the bike discussing, how good they are at doing two thirds of the race!
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| Staple diet of an Ironwidow on race day |
With the tube replaced and an extra one in my pocket I headed through town to the run turn around, I didn't have to wait long when “the other girl” came through smiling and running strongly! When she enquires ... how is my girl going? Gulp, you mean you haven't seen her? I think! My mind starts to race … mmm something is a miss here! So I slowly move up the road to see if I could see “my girl” ahead of us … when she pops into sight still heading to the turn around … walking, wet sponges stuffed ala Macka! Looking very distressed. Oh no! The race has turned to custard … big time!
We had a disjointed conversation which just made me more concerned … it turns out the medics at one of the early aid station made her sit out for 10 – 15 minutes because of the heat. By this stage it was over 90 F (30C). As we talked the Aid Station team leader came up to us and made sure that “my girl” was alright to continue, taking control, he saturated several face clothes and told us to head to next aid station and re- assess it there. Genuine concern and excellent support from the aid stations “the girl” made it one aid station at a time (they are at every mile). By the time “my girl” had made it back into town, my stress levels had dropped and I left her to complete the next lap by herself.
I had never seen so many people walking on an Ironman marathon leg. I headed back to the apartment to swop the bike for the car and then up to the run turn around again. When “the other girl” came through, grabbing a popiscle from the aid station she headed strongly back to the finish line with the chance of finishing in daylight for the first time!
It was a nervous wait … then “my girl” appeared running! Wahooo! 6.35pm at the turn around night fall was 8.38pm A good chance she could finish before nightfall too! Cheering her on I left for the finish line!
Once again the nerves started, finally with my fellow Ironwidower we were able to welcome “his girl” in! Just over 13 hours and in the daylight! Congrats for a day where she just got stronger and stronger!
The butterflys I had turned to stampeding elephants while I waited … and waited … the lights came on … it got dark … When finally “my girl” arrived, not very happy but finishing a very tough day out! I was so pround of her ability to just keep on moving forward, when all her mind was saying “pull the f**k out!”, “go on just quit”
Boy I was pleased that I didn't have to race in that heat … described by some as trying to race with a hair blower turned on full in your face! Over 18% did not finish!
When I finally got through to the family area, “my girl” was not in good shape, to say the least! “The other girl” headed off to the medical area and brought back a medic and wheel chair and we headed off to see a doctor, after a while they released her and the day was over!
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| Practice for carrying me home post-race |
Starring
Ironwidower – Brett
My fellow Ironwidower – Iain
My Girl – Chris
The Other Girl – Zarnia
and yes people were harmed in the making of this!
Hope you enjoyed this alternative perspective! All his words, not mine!!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Ironman St George Race Report
Prologue: the day before the race Brett gives me a card wishing me luck and reminding me of all the hard work I have put in and that he has ultimate faith in my capabilities, even if I do not. He also gives me a fridge magnet with a quote by Winston Churchill on it: "If you are going through Hell, keep going". How apt this was to be for Saturday 7th May 2011!.
PRE:
Alarm off at 3.45 , brekky + down to get the school bus out to Sand Hollow at 4.30am. Have resorted back to a pre race breakfast of coffee, bagel w peanut butter, banana + jam. Had intentions of having another half bagel for extra carbs but I would have been physically sick so didnt. Zarnia and I hopped on the second bus and arrived at Sand Hollow just before 5am. My front tire was flat so I managed to avoid the pump-up queue and one of the mechanics sorted it all out for me.Spent ages stretching + warming up my shoulders with my theraband. Just as well as we weren't allowed in to the water til after the pro start ; 1600 athletes shuffling through a narrow corral into the lake took forever and Z and I were quite far back- I hadnt even finished my usual pre race warm up wee when the gun went off!
SWIM: 1h 16.x 750th place o/a
Water temp 16 deg, neoprene cap + booties worn (lots of sharp rocks at swim start so I would highly reccommend booties for this course)
Despite little in-water warmup, my shoulders felt good initially and for the entire swim.I stuck to the left side and close to the buoy line to enable easier sighting and ensure I didn't stray off course too much. Only strayed slightly off once and seemed to have clear water for a lot of the swim until we got close to a buoy and suddenly a load of bodies appeared from nowhere. Got kicked in the eye once and had a bit of close contact with a few swimmers ( what is it about big men with beards??!!!. they are my nemesis in the open water!) but otherwise was uneventful and thanks to all the paddle/band/buoy work + long swims MM had me doing I felt like my swim form was good and even right to the end. Got a shock when I looked at my watch to see I had had my slowest IM swim by nearly 4 mins.
No HR data as my Polar crapped out 3 days prior to race and my studly new Timex GPS watch which I got for a bargain at the expo didnt read my HR until I stepped out of the water.
T1- 4 mins ? . Not much to say except that wetsuits don't remove easily over the Timex GPS watch. A button got pressed somewhere and I couldnt get the multisport mode functioning; only laps. The air temp was already feeling quite warm so opted for just a bike shirt over my tri suit (mainly for pockets).
BIKE: 6h 38 av Pwr 119 NP 138W av HR 148. 754th place o/a
The first 20 miles of the bike are fast. Reasonably undulating but the road surface is super smooth and helped by a wee tail breeze on race day. However, I have to say that many triathletes have exceptionally poor bike handling skills or ability to descend well. Several times I was worried that I was going to get taken out by another rider or meet a sorry end thanks to the debris of water bottles already strewn across the road. By the time I got to Snow Canyon Parkway, I had already seen two crashes!
My ride went well in terms of time+wattage. I stuck to cap of FTP (190W) on all the steep climbs (thanks for the advice, Mimi!) and stayed seated ( of course you can imagine all the guys I saw standing up hammering the pedals on all the rollers on the first lap!!)
For the rest of the ride I was aiming to stay around 120-140 W (aerobic) and on the smaller rollers a cap of ^ 165 W. I kept an eye on my HR to keep a check on dehydration etc.
Physically and mentally, I didn't feel great the entire ride. Normally in an IM, especially the first lap of the bike I feel really zingy and feel like I am riding waaaay too easy but not this day. I know I did spend a bit of mental energy feeling dissappointed with my swim time but I worked through that in my head and had let it go by the time I had got to Snow canyon to start the 2 loops and focussed myself on hydration, fueling and my Power #s. One of the biggest gains I have found using my Powertap is having an instant reference point helps me concentrate on what I am doing during a race and not so much the effort caps on climbs but helps me avoid slacking off during easier portions of the ride.
Nutrition wise I used Pwerbar Perform drink, Clif bloks. half banana. a gel, fun size milky ways, water. I was aiming for 40g CHO/hr in mostly liquid form and achieved this. Given my state of both mind + body on the ride it concerned me that perhaps I had been running low on fuel the entire time? I added up everything I had eaten or drunk and it worked out exactly as I had planned.
However, MM had said to me "you don't have to feel good to race good" and I knew I was riding OK given my Power numbers and eating/drinking wasn't making me feel any better so I just had to suck it up and get on with it:)
We had a warm tail breeze up the canyon and it was starting to get HOT by the second lap. I stopped to put some ice under my helmet on 2nd loop ( not so easy with a vented helmet!) and squirted myself with water sporadically. By the time we reached Veyo on the second loop, my HR had risen a little and I just had not been quite able to hit the same power #s as on 1st lap.I know decoupling is a sure sign of dehydration so I glugged away another bottle of Perform all the way back down to town. However, I could already feel myself getting agitated with the heat - my chest had felt a little tight and at some points on the ride I felt like I couldn't breathe but I think that may have been a little hyperventilation caused by my mild panic about the heat and how the HELL was I going to cope on the run????
I must say though, that the bike ride is very scenic and the time just flew by. Its not a mentally challenging bike course but is definitley more physically challenging than IMNZ.
My feet were cramping and the arthitic big toe joint on my right foot had become very stiff that i couldnt place any weight on it while pedalling. Weird? It usually hurts in the cold or if I have done heaps of road running but never cycling. Oh well, hopefully would come right when I put my trainers on.
T2: Didnt rush this as was trying to cool myself down a bit. Reapplied sunscreen, grabbed a drink of water and shuffled out at steady pace. My foot cramp+ big toe ache eased away after a few minutes. Phew, looks like I will be able to run.....if I could just cool down a bit!!
RUN: 5.45 . Finish time 14.06 900th o/a In the dark :(((
Do you know, I can't remember much about the run.( Maybe its one of those memory healing things like women get after childbirth- you forget the suffering:). I shuffled up Diagonal and then onto Bluff, feeling very very hot and still struggling to breathe.Guess I mustn't have looked too flash as I approached the aid station at mile 2 as the lady there asked if I was OK and next thing I am sitting in the shade there getting water and ice poured on me by the volunteers there. I used this as a chance to drink a bit more Perform ; the medic guy had a look at me + said it was up to me but he coudl take me back to T2 if I wanted.There was another guy beside me who was a pale shade of grey and seemed to be coughing relentlessly- I thought to myself, "well, you are not in as bad a state as him so time to get on with it". I must have been there for about 15 minutes so decided to just aim for the next aid station and then review things and so on..
I attempted to run but just couldnt - my legs were all funny and jelly like ( but not like the normal brick legs feeling) and I was still struggling with the heat, although there was a bit more of a breeze on Red Hills Parkway so it wasn't quite as intensely hot there as it had been in town.
So I was reduced to a walk - F****. I thought there is NO goddam way I am walking 26 miles....that means i will finish in the dark.. that means a 5 hr + run split......NO WAY...NO WAY.....
But that was just my ego and after a while once I was headed back to town towards the turnaround ( and I was able to start jogging as I had cooled down a bit) I knew that i would finish. Had to walk the uphills on the 2nd lap and everything was hurting but in the normal-2nd half-of an -ironman-run -way I am familiar with and I can put up with that.
Used the sponges this time to stuff up my shorts and cool my quads down and that was very pleasant!
My watch died about 1 hour into the run so had no idea re time or HR. My second lap must have taken about 2:35 as I asked Brett the time of day as i approached the roundabout just before the run turnaround and he said it was 6.30 pm. I finished at 9.06 pm. 1st lap must have been 3.10 ( inc 15 mins sitting in the aid stn)
Nutrition wise for the "run" ( walk...whatever..) I used Perform drink, Coke, water + a pack of clif bloks + a popsicle + a few pretzels or chips.
As I headed to the finish line I saw 14:06 on the clock; hadn't even been able to break 14 hours. But by this time, I didnt care - I wasn't elated; I just felt a mixture of numbness + relief that it was over. My finish line photo expression says it all - I look bloody miserable and am glancing down at the ground.
I managed to force down a slice of pizza then Brett appeared and gave me a hug then the floodgates opened..............and I wasn't feeling so great either so next thing I was getting wheeled in a wheelchair to the medical tent. First time I have paid a visit to the med tent post race - it's like a war casualty zone in there!LOTS of people wrapped in blankets and half dead looking. Anyway, I was also wrapped in a blanket on a camp bed as they checked my "vitals". Had had a massive drop in blood pressure and was a bit dehydrated ( all to be expected after an event like IM) but nothing serious. They gave me some chicken broth and another bottle of Perform to drink and once my BP was getting back towards normal I was discharged.
POST-RACE THOUGHTS
- Travelled to the US from NZ 9 days pre race, takes 2x 1 hr flights+ 12 hr flight+ 2 hrs in a car + 18 hr time difference. Maybe still had some residual fatigue from the travel. In future, would travel no less than 12-14 days before.
- I did exceed the volume of training MM put in my programme at times and maybe this also gave me extra fatigue that I hadn't shaken off.
-I don't do well in the heat ( Wanaka 2010 went from vv cold water-vv hot day, 1st day of EC Utah camp last yr, this race) so need to avoid races where it gets vvv hot OR do longer acclimitisation.Also VERY dry in St G. I did superhydrate with electrolytes all week and we didnt have the air con on in our condo.
-I know I have made strength gains on the bike and swim , I feel I rode reasonably well at St G and didnt blow myself up on the bike. However, its a very spiky course which may have had some effect.
-I need to improve my body composition- although I eat healthily and have a diet high in unprocessed foods, once I am into big training build ups I give myself the "OK" to eat plenty chocolate + other sweet stuff. A light went on when I read Mike Coughlins peice on EC the other day about how training a lot hid his sugar addiction. BING! Thats me - and I have been in denial about it.Time to change.
- Volunteers here were EXCELLENT and full of positive encouragemnet and support for everybody
-Headspace is such an important part of endurance racing- I was already getting anxious about the heat and the run during the bike, was it almost a self-fulfilling prophesy?
I ran a gamut of emotions during the day ( shame, embarrassment, panic,, dissappointment, enjoyment to name but a few:)) but now I just have a sense of apathy towards the race. Brett said he was proud of me for not giving up but I don't feel particularly proud for toughing it out......though now I will have a LOT more sympathy ( and empathy!) for the people you see walking the marathon and are out there well into the night.
- Its an AWESOME course and it hasn't put me off doing this race again, I hope it survives as it is definitely a true test of one's limits and the course is beautiful. You could have all kind of weather thrown at you here -wind and extremes of hot or cold. The local community are great, friendly and behind the event 100%; we were in St George for 10 days and didnt encounter any negativity at all.
Bring on IM Canada!!!!!
PRE:
Alarm off at 3.45 , brekky + down to get the school bus out to Sand Hollow at 4.30am. Have resorted back to a pre race breakfast of coffee, bagel w peanut butter, banana + jam. Had intentions of having another half bagel for extra carbs but I would have been physically sick so didnt. Zarnia and I hopped on the second bus and arrived at Sand Hollow just before 5am. My front tire was flat so I managed to avoid the pump-up queue and one of the mechanics sorted it all out for me.Spent ages stretching + warming up my shoulders with my theraband. Just as well as we weren't allowed in to the water til after the pro start ; 1600 athletes shuffling through a narrow corral into the lake took forever and Z and I were quite far back- I hadnt even finished my usual pre race warm up wee when the gun went off!
SWIM: 1h 16.x 750th place o/a
Water temp 16 deg, neoprene cap + booties worn (lots of sharp rocks at swim start so I would highly reccommend booties for this course)
Despite little in-water warmup, my shoulders felt good initially and for the entire swim.I stuck to the left side and close to the buoy line to enable easier sighting and ensure I didn't stray off course too much. Only strayed slightly off once and seemed to have clear water for a lot of the swim until we got close to a buoy and suddenly a load of bodies appeared from nowhere. Got kicked in the eye once and had a bit of close contact with a few swimmers ( what is it about big men with beards??!!!. they are my nemesis in the open water!) but otherwise was uneventful and thanks to all the paddle/band/buoy work + long swims MM had me doing I felt like my swim form was good and even right to the end. Got a shock when I looked at my watch to see I had had my slowest IM swim by nearly 4 mins.
No HR data as my Polar crapped out 3 days prior to race and my studly new Timex GPS watch which I got for a bargain at the expo didnt read my HR until I stepped out of the water.
T1- 4 mins ? . Not much to say except that wetsuits don't remove easily over the Timex GPS watch. A button got pressed somewhere and I couldnt get the multisport mode functioning; only laps. The air temp was already feeling quite warm so opted for just a bike shirt over my tri suit (mainly for pockets).
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| Looking at Snow Canyon |
The first 20 miles of the bike are fast. Reasonably undulating but the road surface is super smooth and helped by a wee tail breeze on race day. However, I have to say that many triathletes have exceptionally poor bike handling skills or ability to descend well. Several times I was worried that I was going to get taken out by another rider or meet a sorry end thanks to the debris of water bottles already strewn across the road. By the time I got to Snow Canyon Parkway, I had already seen two crashes!
My ride went well in terms of time+wattage. I stuck to cap of FTP (190W) on all the steep climbs (thanks for the advice, Mimi!) and stayed seated ( of course you can imagine all the guys I saw standing up hammering the pedals on all the rollers on the first lap!!)
For the rest of the ride I was aiming to stay around 120-140 W (aerobic) and on the smaller rollers a cap of ^ 165 W. I kept an eye on my HR to keep a check on dehydration etc.
Physically and mentally, I didn't feel great the entire ride. Normally in an IM, especially the first lap of the bike I feel really zingy and feel like I am riding waaaay too easy but not this day. I know I did spend a bit of mental energy feeling dissappointed with my swim time but I worked through that in my head and had let it go by the time I had got to Snow canyon to start the 2 loops and focussed myself on hydration, fueling and my Power #s. One of the biggest gains I have found using my Powertap is having an instant reference point helps me concentrate on what I am doing during a race and not so much the effort caps on climbs but helps me avoid slacking off during easier portions of the ride.
Nutrition wise I used Pwerbar Perform drink, Clif bloks. half banana. a gel, fun size milky ways, water. I was aiming for 40g CHO/hr in mostly liquid form and achieved this. Given my state of both mind + body on the ride it concerned me that perhaps I had been running low on fuel the entire time? I added up everything I had eaten or drunk and it worked out exactly as I had planned.
However, MM had said to me "you don't have to feel good to race good" and I knew I was riding OK given my Power numbers and eating/drinking wasn't making me feel any better so I just had to suck it up and get on with it:)
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| Pie shop in Veyo.Nom Nom |
I must say though, that the bike ride is very scenic and the time just flew by. Its not a mentally challenging bike course but is definitley more physically challenging than IMNZ.
My feet were cramping and the arthitic big toe joint on my right foot had become very stiff that i couldnt place any weight on it while pedalling. Weird? It usually hurts in the cold or if I have done heaps of road running but never cycling. Oh well, hopefully would come right when I put my trainers on.
T2: Didnt rush this as was trying to cool myself down a bit. Reapplied sunscreen, grabbed a drink of water and shuffled out at steady pace. My foot cramp+ big toe ache eased away after a few minutes. Phew, looks like I will be able to run.....if I could just cool down a bit!!
RUN: 5.45 . Finish time 14.06 900th o/a In the dark :(((
Do you know, I can't remember much about the run.( Maybe its one of those memory healing things like women get after childbirth- you forget the suffering:). I shuffled up Diagonal and then onto Bluff, feeling very very hot and still struggling to breathe.Guess I mustn't have looked too flash as I approached the aid station at mile 2 as the lady there asked if I was OK and next thing I am sitting in the shade there getting water and ice poured on me by the volunteers there. I used this as a chance to drink a bit more Perform ; the medic guy had a look at me + said it was up to me but he coudl take me back to T2 if I wanted.There was another guy beside me who was a pale shade of grey and seemed to be coughing relentlessly- I thought to myself, "well, you are not in as bad a state as him so time to get on with it". I must have been there for about 15 minutes so decided to just aim for the next aid station and then review things and so on..
I attempted to run but just couldnt - my legs were all funny and jelly like ( but not like the normal brick legs feeling) and I was still struggling with the heat, although there was a bit more of a breeze on Red Hills Parkway so it wasn't quite as intensely hot there as it had been in town.
So I was reduced to a walk - F****. I thought there is NO goddam way I am walking 26 miles....that means i will finish in the dark.. that means a 5 hr + run split......NO WAY...NO WAY.....
But that was just my ego and after a while once I was headed back to town towards the turnaround ( and I was able to start jogging as I had cooled down a bit) I knew that i would finish. Had to walk the uphills on the 2nd lap and everything was hurting but in the normal-2nd half-of an -ironman-run -way I am familiar with and I can put up with that.
Used the sponges this time to stuff up my shorts and cool my quads down and that was very pleasant!
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| Run Course-Red Hills Pkway. |
My watch died about 1 hour into the run so had no idea re time or HR. My second lap must have taken about 2:35 as I asked Brett the time of day as i approached the roundabout just before the run turnaround and he said it was 6.30 pm. I finished at 9.06 pm. 1st lap must have been 3.10 ( inc 15 mins sitting in the aid stn)
Nutrition wise for the "run" ( walk...whatever..) I used Perform drink, Coke, water + a pack of clif bloks + a popsicle + a few pretzels or chips.
As I headed to the finish line I saw 14:06 on the clock; hadn't even been able to break 14 hours. But by this time, I didnt care - I wasn't elated; I just felt a mixture of numbness + relief that it was over. My finish line photo expression says it all - I look bloody miserable and am glancing down at the ground.
I managed to force down a slice of pizza then Brett appeared and gave me a hug then the floodgates opened..............and I wasn't feeling so great either so next thing I was getting wheeled in a wheelchair to the medical tent. First time I have paid a visit to the med tent post race - it's like a war casualty zone in there!LOTS of people wrapped in blankets and half dead looking. Anyway, I was also wrapped in a blanket on a camp bed as they checked my "vitals". Had had a massive drop in blood pressure and was a bit dehydrated ( all to be expected after an event like IM) but nothing serious. They gave me some chicken broth and another bottle of Perform to drink and once my BP was getting back towards normal I was discharged.
POST-RACE THOUGHTS
- Travelled to the US from NZ 9 days pre race, takes 2x 1 hr flights+ 12 hr flight+ 2 hrs in a car + 18 hr time difference. Maybe still had some residual fatigue from the travel. In future, would travel no less than 12-14 days before.
- I did exceed the volume of training MM put in my programme at times and maybe this also gave me extra fatigue that I hadn't shaken off.
-I don't do well in the heat ( Wanaka 2010 went from vv cold water-vv hot day, 1st day of EC Utah camp last yr, this race) so need to avoid races where it gets vvv hot OR do longer acclimitisation.Also VERY dry in St G. I did superhydrate with electrolytes all week and we didnt have the air con on in our condo.
-I know I have made strength gains on the bike and swim , I feel I rode reasonably well at St G and didnt blow myself up on the bike. However, its a very spiky course which may have had some effect.
-I need to improve my body composition- although I eat healthily and have a diet high in unprocessed foods, once I am into big training build ups I give myself the "OK" to eat plenty chocolate + other sweet stuff. A light went on when I read Mike Coughlins peice on EC the other day about how training a lot hid his sugar addiction. BING! Thats me - and I have been in denial about it.Time to change.
- Volunteers here were EXCELLENT and full of positive encouragemnet and support for everybody
-Headspace is such an important part of endurance racing- I was already getting anxious about the heat and the run during the bike, was it almost a self-fulfilling prophesy?
I ran a gamut of emotions during the day ( shame, embarrassment, panic,, dissappointment, enjoyment to name but a few:)) but now I just have a sense of apathy towards the race. Brett said he was proud of me for not giving up but I don't feel particularly proud for toughing it out......though now I will have a LOT more sympathy ( and empathy!) for the people you see walking the marathon and are out there well into the night.
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| Local wildlife encounter at Bryce Canyon |
Bring on IM Canada!!!!!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
I'm Tired......
WARNING: May contain some typos and the odd grammatical error.
As the title suggests, I am a bit knackered. All in a good way though, I have that nicely whole body latent muscle ache and permanent mild hunger that goes hand in hand with the build period pre Ironman. Am not as fatigued as previous years however as the car doesn't need to go to the panel beaters. (yet).
After a kick up the butt from coach marilyn reminding me that I had put in a lot of work over the past year and to let a little disruption get in the way of my goals would be very dissappointing, I have swung back into action and cranking out some decent hours of training. Had a couple of good weeks of training after my weekend in Taupo; the Sunday after my big Monday ride I headed out for a 4 hour flat ride with Brett. Quite exciting as we hadn't had a ride together in AGES! Anyhow, with the help of his Garmin 705, Brett planned out a route for us to ride, taking in some different roads. I couldn't face riding out to Little River and back..... the flies, the Easterly headwind on the way home, magpies, boring scenery. In fact- its a great Ironman training ride:))
I digress; we rode out round the back of the airport and round Maclean's Island then turned onto Old West Coast Rd for a bit and then cut up another road to Main West Coast Road and a right turn through a network of roads that took us to Burnham Army base where we crossed the State Highway 1 and grovelled all the way through Lincoln to Tai Tapu and then home. This felt like a really arduous 4 hour ride. Although the ride was broken up with some long TT efforts, I came to the realisation while riding that long flat rides are far harder than long rides in the hills.
-You never get to freewheel
-No change in position as no change in terrain
-Mentally harder as landscape tends to be less exciting
-More exposed to direct effects of the wind
Of course, it didn't help that the first half of the ride was on a 1-2% gradient - and the second half was into a headwind. We arrived at Zeroes for post-ride coffee feeling rather spent. My new catchphrase ( purged from Mike C on endurance corner's forum ) is "Flat Hills"- attributed to riding around Christchurch where one has to combat rough chip seal as well as wind -I LOVE it!!!
In other exciting news, Wharenui Pool opened on the 14th of March so I no longer have to traipse out to Rangiora for a swim. Hope I haven't lost too much strength in the water. I was about to add speed, but that's not really an issue for me- I only have one !!!!
Off to Sydney on the 18th March for the weekend as Mum is over there so am really looking forward to that. Hopefully work on my tan in the outdoor 50m pool at Bondi and get some good sets in.
As the title suggests, I am a bit knackered. All in a good way though, I have that nicely whole body latent muscle ache and permanent mild hunger that goes hand in hand with the build period pre Ironman. Am not as fatigued as previous years however as the car doesn't need to go to the panel beaters. (yet).
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| Brett+Betty |
I digress; we rode out round the back of the airport and round Maclean's Island then turned onto Old West Coast Rd for a bit and then cut up another road to Main West Coast Road and a right turn through a network of roads that took us to Burnham Army base where we crossed the State Highway 1 and grovelled all the way through Lincoln to Tai Tapu and then home. This felt like a really arduous 4 hour ride. Although the ride was broken up with some long TT efforts, I came to the realisation while riding that long flat rides are far harder than long rides in the hills.
-You never get to freewheel
-No change in position as no change in terrain
-Mentally harder as landscape tends to be less exciting
-More exposed to direct effects of the wind
Of course, it didn't help that the first half of the ride was on a 1-2% gradient - and the second half was into a headwind. We arrived at Zeroes for post-ride coffee feeling rather spent. My new catchphrase ( purged from Mike C on endurance corner's forum ) is "Flat Hills"- attributed to riding around Christchurch where one has to combat rough chip seal as well as wind -I LOVE it!!!
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| Alberto+I- bright eyed and bushy tailed |
In other exciting news, Wharenui Pool opened on the 14th of March so I no longer have to traipse out to Rangiora for a swim. Hope I haven't lost too much strength in the water. I was about to add speed, but that's not really an issue for me- I only have one !!!!
Off to Sydney on the 18th March for the weekend as Mum is over there so am really looking forward to that. Hopefully work on my tan in the outdoor 50m pool at Bondi and get some good sets in.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Quick Update
Oops... well meaning intentions to blog weekly have slipped by the wayside recently! I suspect there is a direct correlation between training volume and blogging. This will just a be a quick one relating to the last 3 or 4 weeks.
Headed up to Aucklnad on 4th March and then Becs, Mary, Lachie , 4 bikes and I drove down to Taupo to have a good training weekend, hang out and support friends competing in Ironman New Zealand on the Saturday. My best laid plans of lots of swimming and a big bike ride didnt come to fruition; by the time we arrived in Taupo on Friday evening I was able to get out for a run. Saturday we awoke to torrential rain- always optimistic it would clear, decided to go watch the end of the swim and cheer people on. By the time we had seen everyone we knew, I was freezing cold and soaking wet! Quick coffee and a delicious date and orange scone from Bodyfuel and back to the house to throw stuff in the dryer and change. Still no abating of the rain or any sign that it was likely to clear so we all decided to head out in the car and park up on a side road off Broadlands to watch the cyclists. Took about 5 minutes and we were drenched again, however some heat was generated in the form of ranting at that blatant drafting of the front end age group men with some pro women nicely tucked in the mix. Credit where it is due, a few in there were obviously trying to keep to the legal 7 m between bikes but others were sucking wheel. Quite disgusting especially from professional athletes who I believe shoudl be setting an example by riding clean in races, not cheating.
Thats ok but where were the technical officials?? And why bother penalising the back end of the field when its the pointy end that have the most riding on a race result in the form of Kona slots, sponsorship , prize money etc.
Anyway, enough on the soap box :) Didn't end up doing any training for the rest of the Saturday as couldn't will myself to even go for a swim - the lake was shrouded in low cloud and after spending all day in a semi-saturated state, swimming had lost it's appeal.Thus I also passed the day battling feelings of guilt about missed sessions and despondent about the impending Ironman. Watching the poor soaked souls out there shuffling their way up and down the lakefront made me start to question why on earth I decide to take these things upon myself? Why? Why? Why can I not just be content with some social riding, running and swimming for health and fitness instead of this obsessive, life-encompassing quest to see how quickly I can cover 226 km?!!!!!!! Deep huh?!
Next day it was still wet ; albeit slightly less miserable so Becs, Lachie, Mary and I set off for Whakaipo Bay. Becs+ Lachie were going to mountain bike the W2K track in training for Xterra, I was going to do my 2 hr 15 run and then aim to get at least half an hour of lake swimming in and Mary was going to go for a shorter run and look after the car keys. I had a very pleasant run which climbed up hill for several km through forest and the track was quite wide with a soft surface and not too many tree roots to trip over! Made it in for a swim after the run, though there was quite a bit of swell and about 50m out I couldnt see the bottom of the lake at all which freaked me out a little - I guess because I was onmy own - so I swam back and forth parallel to shore which was not altogether that pleasant but I stuck it out for just under 30 minutes. Getting out and walking to shore was rather difficult however; I was feeling quite sea sick and couldn't walk in a straight line let alone stand on one leg to remove my wetsuit!! Am sure the ducks were highly amused.
We drove back to Auckland that afternoon and I got the last flight back to Christchurch, ever optimistic that Monday would be a dry day and I would get in a good long ride.
Hey Presto!! A cold but sunny day beckoned - so had a good jaunt over the hills to Purau and back then out on the flat with the condition that I didn't ever use my small chain ring. Ended up having a gratifying 5 and a half hour ride; pleased that I can at least ride the bays of Lyttelton Harbour between Governors and Purau. I did debate as to whether I shoudl really try rip my own legs off and go over to Port Levy and back, but i was a bit too scared about potential rockfalls on the road so I chickened out of that! Maybe next time.
Headed up to Aucklnad on 4th March and then Becs, Mary, Lachie , 4 bikes and I drove down to Taupo to have a good training weekend, hang out and support friends competing in Ironman New Zealand on the Saturday. My best laid plans of lots of swimming and a big bike ride didnt come to fruition; by the time we arrived in Taupo on Friday evening I was able to get out for a run. Saturday we awoke to torrential rain- always optimistic it would clear, decided to go watch the end of the swim and cheer people on. By the time we had seen everyone we knew, I was freezing cold and soaking wet! Quick coffee and a delicious date and orange scone from Bodyfuel and back to the house to throw stuff in the dryer and change. Still no abating of the rain or any sign that it was likely to clear so we all decided to head out in the car and park up on a side road off Broadlands to watch the cyclists. Took about 5 minutes and we were drenched again, however some heat was generated in the form of ranting at that blatant drafting of the front end age group men with some pro women nicely tucked in the mix. Credit where it is due, a few in there were obviously trying to keep to the legal 7 m between bikes but others were sucking wheel. Quite disgusting especially from professional athletes who I believe shoudl be setting an example by riding clean in races, not cheating.
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| Ugly Weather |
Anyway, enough on the soap box :) Didn't end up doing any training for the rest of the Saturday as couldn't will myself to even go for a swim - the lake was shrouded in low cloud and after spending all day in a semi-saturated state, swimming had lost it's appeal.Thus I also passed the day battling feelings of guilt about missed sessions and despondent about the impending Ironman. Watching the poor soaked souls out there shuffling their way up and down the lakefront made me start to question why on earth I decide to take these things upon myself? Why? Why? Why can I not just be content with some social riding, running and swimming for health and fitness instead of this obsessive, life-encompassing quest to see how quickly I can cover 226 km?!!!!!!! Deep huh?!
Next day it was still wet ; albeit slightly less miserable so Becs, Lachie, Mary and I set off for Whakaipo Bay. Becs+ Lachie were going to mountain bike the W2K track in training for Xterra, I was going to do my 2 hr 15 run and then aim to get at least half an hour of lake swimming in and Mary was going to go for a shorter run and look after the car keys. I had a very pleasant run which climbed up hill for several km through forest and the track was quite wide with a soft surface and not too many tree roots to trip over! Made it in for a swim after the run, though there was quite a bit of swell and about 50m out I couldnt see the bottom of the lake at all which freaked me out a little - I guess because I was onmy own - so I swam back and forth parallel to shore which was not altogether that pleasant but I stuck it out for just under 30 minutes. Getting out and walking to shore was rather difficult however; I was feeling quite sea sick and couldn't walk in a straight line let alone stand on one leg to remove my wetsuit!! Am sure the ducks were highly amused.
We drove back to Auckland that afternoon and I got the last flight back to Christchurch, ever optimistic that Monday would be a dry day and I would get in a good long ride.
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| Am I brave enough to tackle the Levy??! |
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Reality Bites
Well, has been a rather up and down couple of weeks since my last post. I had intentions to write last week as I had a post composed in my head during an episode of insomnia broken up by the odd aftershock or two:) But I never seemed to have time - we still didnt have any running water at home til last Friday (the 4th of March) - so my spare time between being at work and training was spent driving to friend's place for a shower and to get a couple of loads of washing done. On this note - John and Mair -THANK YOU!! for the use of shower and washing machine; was a lifesaver!!
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| Spot the Canadian |
First few days after the quake I couldn't get my head around training. It seemed a rather selfish way to spend my time, as well as not being able to have a shower afterwards!.However, I also felt rather anxious about leaving the house by myself just in case another big one struck.So, rather than ride my bike last Sunday, Brett dragged me over to Sumner to Lidia and Andrew's house which sits nestled up Sumnervale, a few metres below Captain Thomas track. It was almost a 4 wheel drive adventure to get there as the roads through Ferrymead and into Sumner are a huge MESS. Rockfalls strewn across some pavements and if you happen to look up as you drive into Sumner past Shag(ged) Rock on the cliffs, you can see the houses on the top have decks overhanging the edge now where the cliff has crumbled away. We also spotted parts of barbecues and laundry in the debris of boulders and other detritus lying in what was previously a small reserve . Anyway, spent the day helping build a rockprooof fence at the top of their garden. I have to mention that the gradient of the garden is about 30% so I certainly got a satisfactory strength workout for both upper and lower body - have you ever tried hammering in a waratah??!!!! I also learnt how to tie steel; not dissimilar to making removable orthodontic appliances really!
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| This is across the road from work |
Went back to work last Monday, cleared out 6 years worth of old journals and other trash from the surgery so that was something. The entire week was quite unproductive as anticipated and I expect that is how it 's going to be for a little while. After a mild panic attack about finances, lack of swimming pools and shaking ground I came to the decision that I stick to the original plan and stay at work til Easter then head north either to Aus or UK after we return from Utah. I don't cope well with a disrupted routine as i am a creature of habit and after weighing up pros and cons of staying put vs leaving , staying won out in the end.
Swimming is proving a little difficult at present with no pools open here in Chch; the nearest pool being in Rangiora or open water at Pegasus lake which are both 45 mins- 1 hour drive away, depending on the time of day. However, its not the end of the world. We still have a house to live in that is basically undamaged, friends and loved ones are all accounted for and Jemima hasn't run off in fright.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Shaken ... and a little stirred.
So, this week has seen a rather unexpected turn of events to say the least!
Said Goodbye to Mum on Monday afternoon; wasn't as emotional a farewell as usual since we will catch up again in Sydney on the 18th of March - am heading there for the weekend- may as well since is only a 3 hour flight away as opposed to the 33 hours I have to travel to get back to Edinburgh!
Managed to get all my training in successfully last week with some reduced working hours and good time management. I admire people who train for Ironmans and have to juggle young families, 40 hour work weeks and the rest- I just cannot conceive how they get enough sleep!
Tuesday morning I made it to swim squad but the pool was still at 50m (is usually set to 2 x 25 m pools on Tues, Wed+ Thurs) which meant we had about 10 of us with a much wider variety of speeds in the lane. I don't enjoy squad when it is like this as I am generally the slowest in the lane and have to keep skipping some of the intervals to stay in the same sets as my squad mates. However, I tell myself that it is good to push out of my comfort zone a bit and hope that I am swimming faster than normal just to hang on! I was a bit sluggish tho; my shoulders were tired from Monday's set so I was glad when the hour was up and I could get out. Headed back toward home and did the groceries en route as had had a couple of cancellations so wasnt starting work til later in the morning. Ugh I find grocery shopping a tedious chore but when a pocket of time becomes available it has to be used!
Anyway, in the midst of my last morning patient and suddenly the lights go off and the building starts shaking like crazy and drawers are opening, stuff is flying off the shelves and the work surfaces and I hear the hiss of pipes and the rumbling noise of a shuddering roof combined with the banging and crashing of items falling off surfaces throughout the practice. Once the worst subsided we all went outside into the car park ; standing around like stunned mullets in a bit of disbelief. A few minutes later we could feel the rolling and rocking of the ground as sequences of aftershocks came.Went back inside to get my bag and couldnt even see the floor of my surgery! Shame I didnt take a photo to record it but didnt want to linger in the building for too long. We lost a few roof tiles but otherwise the structure of the practice seems to be ok. Took forever to get home; the building across from work by the large intersection had a collapsed roof and the traffic lights were out as well as silt and liquefaction pouring out from the gutters and craters appearing in the road.
Got home eternally grateful that the house was still standing and that Brett was there, also unharmed. We had some broken mugs and glasses; all the photo frames had fallen over as well as the shelves in the spare room. We still had power on thankfully but no water. Next panic was about Jemima but I stood in the garden and called out to her and lo she appeared from underneath a bush. Phew! I missed all the action in September when the first earthquake struck; the subsequent aftershocks never really bothered me but on Tuesday afternoon I spent feeling mildly traumatised and terrified at the slightest wobble.However, when we turned the TV on and saw the mass devastation in the town centre we felt exceedingly lucky.Needless to say, it was a bit of a sleepless night. Wednesday seemed a little surreal; thankfully internet connection was restored so was able to track down some people I hadn't heard from via Facebook. We had a few friends come round who were still without power to charge up cell phones and lap tops and it was a relief to talk to other people and hear their experiences.
As for training,can still run and ride in various places (but no Long or Short bays for a while). Swimming- well, I am not sure where or when will the pools will reopen. Its a minor though in the great scheme of things and my heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones in this disaster. Makes one have some appreciation for the things in life we take for granted. Kia Kaha
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| Jemima mimicking my post training pose |
Managed to get all my training in successfully last week with some reduced working hours and good time management. I admire people who train for Ironmans and have to juggle young families, 40 hour work weeks and the rest- I just cannot conceive how they get enough sleep!
Tuesday morning I made it to swim squad but the pool was still at 50m (is usually set to 2 x 25 m pools on Tues, Wed+ Thurs) which meant we had about 10 of us with a much wider variety of speeds in the lane. I don't enjoy squad when it is like this as I am generally the slowest in the lane and have to keep skipping some of the intervals to stay in the same sets as my squad mates. However, I tell myself that it is good to push out of my comfort zone a bit and hope that I am swimming faster than normal just to hang on! I was a bit sluggish tho; my shoulders were tired from Monday's set so I was glad when the hour was up and I could get out. Headed back toward home and did the groceries en route as had had a couple of cancellations so wasnt starting work til later in the morning. Ugh I find grocery shopping a tedious chore but when a pocket of time becomes available it has to be used!
Anyway, in the midst of my last morning patient and suddenly the lights go off and the building starts shaking like crazy and drawers are opening, stuff is flying off the shelves and the work surfaces and I hear the hiss of pipes and the rumbling noise of a shuddering roof combined with the banging and crashing of items falling off surfaces throughout the practice. Once the worst subsided we all went outside into the car park ; standing around like stunned mullets in a bit of disbelief. A few minutes later we could feel the rolling and rocking of the ground as sequences of aftershocks came.Went back inside to get my bag and couldnt even see the floor of my surgery! Shame I didnt take a photo to record it but didnt want to linger in the building for too long. We lost a few roof tiles but otherwise the structure of the practice seems to be ok. Took forever to get home; the building across from work by the large intersection had a collapsed roof and the traffic lights were out as well as silt and liquefaction pouring out from the gutters and craters appearing in the road.
Got home eternally grateful that the house was still standing and that Brett was there, also unharmed. We had some broken mugs and glasses; all the photo frames had fallen over as well as the shelves in the spare room. We still had power on thankfully but no water. Next panic was about Jemima but I stood in the garden and called out to her and lo she appeared from underneath a bush. Phew! I missed all the action in September when the first earthquake struck; the subsequent aftershocks never really bothered me but on Tuesday afternoon I spent feeling mildly traumatised and terrified at the slightest wobble.However, when we turned the TV on and saw the mass devastation in the town centre we felt exceedingly lucky.Needless to say, it was a bit of a sleepless night. Wednesday seemed a little surreal; thankfully internet connection was restored so was able to track down some people I hadn't heard from via Facebook. We had a few friends come round who were still without power to charge up cell phones and lap tops and it was a relief to talk to other people and hear their experiences.
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| What earthquake??!! |
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Coughs. Colds and Clan Gatherings
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| Alec,Mum and Christine staying upright in the wind |
Mum arrived last Friday and is here until the 21st of February. I was in a bit of a panic about how I was going to fit in some good training, work and quality Mummy time. My Uncle Alec and his wife, also called Christine, arrived late Thursday night and are here until Tuesday. They live in a small town called Foster which is about 2 1/2 hours drive from Melbourne, Victoria. The picture above is of them standing by the summit road along the Port Hills; they are positioned by the top of the Bridle Path which is a steep track which rises from Lyttelton on the South side over to Heathcote Valley on the North side. The first settlers into Christchurch walked with all their belongings over this path to get to the flatter, fertile plains of Christchurch. No obesity epidemic in those days!!
Anyway, enough history. Woke the early hours of last Saturday morning with a scratchy sore throat and had trouble getting to sleep again. My body was feeling quite achey, but I had done a weights session in the gym the day before and with Ironman training there are always some latent muscle aches. I had also had a massage 2 days previous so was hoping and praying that it would pass.I attempted a ride on the Saturday morning but I was starting to feel worse and worse so decided to quit the workout early and knock things on the head. Sunday was our hottest day of the year - a sweltering 35 degrees so Mum and I went for a walk up round Cashmere hills for a couple of hours. Monday was back to work and my throat was still a bit sore and I was feeling pretty tired as it had been so hot on Sunday night that I hadnt had the greatest sleep.
Managed to train Tuesday and Wednesday, altho blew myself up on Tuesday night with some FTP intervals. Had 4 intervals of 15 mins with 4 mins recovery to do; first two were fine, third one I rode up Kennedy's Bush Road to enable me to hit the power target and the 4th... well I crawled home like a dog with no legs!! (Actually FELT like a dog with no legs by this point!)
Thursday I awoke to Brett having disappeared - he had moved into the lounge and was on the couch since i was snoring so bad (??!!moi??!!) - and the dull ache above my eyeballs and through my cheeks of full blown sinusitis.Ugh. So much for thinking I had gotten over my little cold; should have known better than that going back to pathology days at Uni...virus first then the bacteria flood in a few days later. (thats why your snot is clear at the start of a cold and green by the later stages. Interesting, huh?!) Missed swimming but managed a wind trainer session in the afternoon. Had to leave home at 11.15pm to go to pick up Alec + Chris from the airport which wasn't ideal so Friday I felt even more crap and was certainly not up to excercise.
Attempted a flat ride on Saturday morning, tho my HR was quite high for my effort and similar while running this morning. Both resting and training HRs were higher but my run pace was way off. Brett had to wait 4 minutes for me at the top of Captain Thomas track - we are usually together or I can pip him a bit on the uphills. By then I had come to the conclusion that common sense should apply and there was no way I could struggle on for a 2 hours plus run round the Godley head circuit, let alone the thought of climbing up all the zig zags back over Whitewash head. Brett suggested that we turn back and that I needed to get over this cold and not to panic about a shortened workout (again).
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| Godley head and Boulder Bay.My favourite run :)) |
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| View from Hilltop |
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| Wouldnt have a spoke problem on this baby! |
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Lake Wanaka Half race Report (Sat 15th Jan)
Short version: 5 h42.x 7th female in 30-39 AG, 12th female o/all. 91st out of 332.( Average fiinish time was 5.56 )
Swim- 37.20x t1 5 min > Bike 3h05 t2. 2min Run 1h 52.5x
Looong Version:
For those of you unfamiliar with this beautiful part of the world, Wanaka is situated in the South Island of NZ a groovy town situated by a large freshwater lake fed from glacial rivers and nestled amongst mountains. Weather in summer is one of two patterns - Southwesterly which means littl wind, clear skies and very hot days. Or northwesterly which means very windy and/or heavy rain which causes the lake to rise.
The two days preceding the race were clear, calm and hot. However, a norwester was forecast for Saturday. Metservice website said the wind would pick up in the afternoon so we were all optimistic that by the time the wind got strong(er) we would be well off the bike (unless you were doing the full distance).
So the alarm went off at 4.45am on Sat morning, brekky of 1 and a half bagels with peanut butter and 1 and a half bananas plus 2 cups of coffee. Followed MM's advice that I needed more calories for breakfastso forced it all down. Listened to my Ipod and my prerace psyche up songs (this is a new thing I am trying out!!)
Applied first layer of sunscreen/stretched my shoulders+rotators and put some muscle rub on my neck and shoulders too.Decided to head outside since it was getting light and check out the weather. UH-OH.......its NOT a good sign when the trees are swaying ferociously at 5.30am!!
We headed down to transition and got numbered and into wetsuits and headed across to the lakefront as the full distance competitors were about to start. As expected the lake was choppy with lots of standing waves ( tho was relieved no white caps at that stage!). Oh well, at least the water temp was 17 degrees this year and not 13 like last year ....I have to admit I had a bit of trepidation as I have always been lucky enough to have smooth conditions in all the major races I have done. Stood in the water for a bit and assessed where the hardest work was going to be - we were swimming in an anticlockwise direction so heading out into the chop, a surf on one side and side on chop back to the big orange buoy then 100m to shore. Had a good warm up, once the men started I headed out as the women were starting 3 mins later and its a deep water start.
I lined myself up in a good position closer to the small orange buoys on my left, of course once the gun went off the usual melee occurred but there were heaps of people doing breaststroke already- i was feeling quite assertive so just kept pushing on remembering MM's instructions that I was to go hard from the start - just had to keep poppong my head up every 3rd- 4th stroke to see over the top of the wave and keep the buoys in sight. Made it round 2/3 of the triangle with a good line - the final stretch heading back in was the hardest part - side on waves meant I kept swallowing water ( but this lake water is highly drinkable - the lake is clear like Taupo so you can see the bottom apart from the really deep bits ) and every time I sighted it felt like the bouy was not getting any closer. The whole swim i was aiming for high turnover and short punchy stroke, kept telling myself I was just in the pool doing MMs fast 25s with BB and counting my strokes. This seemed to work and I passed a few AG men.
Was expecting to see 45 mins on the clock but highly pleased to see 37.17(37.22 to the timing mat) on my watch, last year i did 37.07 but the lake was flat.
Swim- 37.22 avg HR 164 (!!).
T1- 5 mins.
Out on the bike and the first 35 km are an out and back to Hospital flat which is a pleasant leg by the lakeside and lots of rollers. My race plan was to let everyone zoom past up the road to the turnaround and force myself to take it easy and let my stomach settle - good practice for IM anyway. After a study of Going Long and Hunter Allan';s book I set my Power caps to be 190 for the small hills but aiming to hold 150-160 W (which =80-85% of FTP). I had no choice but to do this anyway asi could feel the lake water sloshing away in my stomach ( at least I would be well hydrated
) and had to burp a few timesbefore I came right. This section passed uneventfully and quickly then it was back thru town and up the hill out then a left turn towards Hawea. More rollers and then a decent climb up to Hawea dam (^50km mark) straight into the wind. Worse to come was riding across the dam with my bike being blown towards the centre line as I tried to stay upright. THANK GOD I decided my Powertap was more important and had my 32mm Eastons on!Steepish climb out of Hawea and then a few more rollers and a small uphill (still with crosswind) made this hard work and my Garmin was beeping like mad as I couldnt keep the watts down (!). The reward for this tho was a huge tailwind on the slight downhill along Hawea Flat to Luggate Bridge (this section of road has the roughest chip ever!).I kept hammering away at the pedals tho and used the time to get some more food and drink in - where I felt safe enough to reach for my bottle...slightly scary drop down to Luggate Bridge and then a sharp climb up and eventually hit the right turn back towards wanaka where a longish climb back into the wind ensued before a gradual descent into town.
Robbie Ventura's mantra of "Go fast when the race is slow" had been ringing thru my head the entire ride and here was the prime place to prove that theory..passed a lot of people up here and kept the pace on, knowing that the last 5km were all downhill, albeit into the wind. I hit 75km/hr on my aerobars down here and managed to beat my bike time from last year by 1 minute in much worse condtions. So I was quite chuffed when I got into T2
Bike time 3h05 total ascent 697m avg power 141 ( think Normalized power would be quite a bit higher) avg HR 157.
T2 2 mins
Out onto the run- its a gradual uphill (into the wind) by the lakefront then along the lakeside on a gravelly track and then thankfully a bit of shelter on the Clutha outlet track where finally had a bit of reprieve from the wind. I was running 5.30ish/km which was ok..I was in a nice rhythm and couldnt go faster or slower.The track is quite undulating and about 11km you pop out of the track and have a long uphill (Gunn Rd) then a long 4 km slight downhill (into the wind again!) down Aubrey Road which I have always found a mental slog.. This year the course had changed so no in and out section here - just straight up 2 steepish hills to the park then back to Beacon Point (into that b****y wind again!) to make up the extra distance (which seemed a LOT longer than the previous in and out on Rata St!). Once out by the lake YAY only 2 km to home and the wind behind me....played a bit of cat and mouse with a woman in the age group above me and manged to outsprint her to the line.
run - 1.52.5x avg Hr 167. 1st 10km in 53.52 11km in 59.08. Pleased I kept my run pace relatively consistent.
Nutrition - 2 gels, bag of GU chomps and most of a bag of cola flavour Powerbar Gel blasts + 2 bottles of water w Nuun.
Coke + water only on run. No issues at all
Thoughts?
Am pleased as went 3 mins quicker than last year in very testing conditions. Mostly pleased as I was in very good headspace for the whole race and didnt waste any energy stressing about the wind or the waves. I had listened to an old episode of IMtalk where the boys interviewed Mark Allen a few weeks ago - his message about focussing on the moment really struck home and I said to myself at the start line that I was really grateful I was fit and healthy enough to be able to do this especially in these beautiful surrounds; I was going to enjoy every minute and I know that my Dad would have been really proud. Yes, I know that all sounds really cheesy but on Saturday I got the "flow" and its a great place to be in
This was also the first time I had raced a longer race with my Power meter - I couldnt stick to the power caps on some of the short steep climbs but where I gained the MOST use of it was when I slacked off (despite thinking I was working) a bit and could see that I could put more effort in. My sole focus for the bike was staying within my power parameters and making sure I ate every 30 mins; the ride would take care of itself and surprisingly I was a minute faster than last year.
I would have liked to run less than 1.50 but maybe its hard to do on this course? I was pleased with relatively even pacing and didnt walk any of it.The wind was very tiring on the run; more so than the bike. The swim was also tiring but my strength has definitely improved and can see all the pullbuoy/paddle work Ive been doing is paying off.
Looking forward to St George now - the longer steady climbs suit me a lot more than steep short rollers. At least the roads there are a lot smoother than here in NZ.
I would encourage any of you to come race here -its a stunning spot, great honest course and fabulous atmosphere.....there is a full distance, teams for the half and full and a sprint race the evening before so something to suit everyone.
Swim- 37.20x t1 5 min > Bike 3h05 t2. 2min Run 1h 52.5x
Looong Version:
For those of you unfamiliar with this beautiful part of the world, Wanaka is situated in the South Island of NZ a groovy town situated by a large freshwater lake fed from glacial rivers and nestled amongst mountains. Weather in summer is one of two patterns - Southwesterly which means littl wind, clear skies and very hot days. Or northwesterly which means very windy and/or heavy rain which causes the lake to rise.
The two days preceding the race were clear, calm and hot. However, a norwester was forecast for Saturday. Metservice website said the wind would pick up in the afternoon so we were all optimistic that by the time the wind got strong(er) we would be well off the bike (unless you were doing the full distance).
So the alarm went off at 4.45am on Sat morning, brekky of 1 and a half bagels with peanut butter and 1 and a half bananas plus 2 cups of coffee. Followed MM's advice that I needed more calories for breakfastso forced it all down. Listened to my Ipod and my prerace psyche up songs (this is a new thing I am trying out!!)
Applied first layer of sunscreen/stretched my shoulders+rotators and put some muscle rub on my neck and shoulders too.Decided to head outside since it was getting light and check out the weather. UH-OH.......its NOT a good sign when the trees are swaying ferociously at 5.30am!!
We headed down to transition and got numbered and into wetsuits and headed across to the lakefront as the full distance competitors were about to start. As expected the lake was choppy with lots of standing waves ( tho was relieved no white caps at that stage!). Oh well, at least the water temp was 17 degrees this year and not 13 like last year ....I have to admit I had a bit of trepidation as I have always been lucky enough to have smooth conditions in all the major races I have done. Stood in the water for a bit and assessed where the hardest work was going to be - we were swimming in an anticlockwise direction so heading out into the chop, a surf on one side and side on chop back to the big orange buoy then 100m to shore. Had a good warm up, once the men started I headed out as the women were starting 3 mins later and its a deep water start.
I lined myself up in a good position closer to the small orange buoys on my left, of course once the gun went off the usual melee occurred but there were heaps of people doing breaststroke already- i was feeling quite assertive so just kept pushing on remembering MM's instructions that I was to go hard from the start - just had to keep poppong my head up every 3rd- 4th stroke to see over the top of the wave and keep the buoys in sight. Made it round 2/3 of the triangle with a good line - the final stretch heading back in was the hardest part - side on waves meant I kept swallowing water ( but this lake water is highly drinkable - the lake is clear like Taupo so you can see the bottom apart from the really deep bits ) and every time I sighted it felt like the bouy was not getting any closer. The whole swim i was aiming for high turnover and short punchy stroke, kept telling myself I was just in the pool doing MMs fast 25s with BB and counting my strokes. This seemed to work and I passed a few AG men.
Was expecting to see 45 mins on the clock but highly pleased to see 37.17(37.22 to the timing mat) on my watch, last year i did 37.07 but the lake was flat.
Swim- 37.22 avg HR 164 (!!).
T1- 5 mins.
Out on the bike and the first 35 km are an out and back to Hospital flat which is a pleasant leg by the lakeside and lots of rollers. My race plan was to let everyone zoom past up the road to the turnaround and force myself to take it easy and let my stomach settle - good practice for IM anyway. After a study of Going Long and Hunter Allan';s book I set my Power caps to be 190 for the small hills but aiming to hold 150-160 W (which =80-85% of FTP). I had no choice but to do this anyway asi could feel the lake water sloshing away in my stomach ( at least I would be well hydrated
) and had to burp a few timesbefore I came right. This section passed uneventfully and quickly then it was back thru town and up the hill out then a left turn towards Hawea. More rollers and then a decent climb up to Hawea dam (^50km mark) straight into the wind. Worse to come was riding across the dam with my bike being blown towards the centre line as I tried to stay upright. THANK GOD I decided my Powertap was more important and had my 32mm Eastons on!Steepish climb out of Hawea and then a few more rollers and a small uphill (still with crosswind) made this hard work and my Garmin was beeping like mad as I couldnt keep the watts down (!). The reward for this tho was a huge tailwind on the slight downhill along Hawea Flat to Luggate Bridge (this section of road has the roughest chip ever!).I kept hammering away at the pedals tho and used the time to get some more food and drink in - where I felt safe enough to reach for my bottle...slightly scary drop down to Luggate Bridge and then a sharp climb up and eventually hit the right turn back towards wanaka where a longish climb back into the wind ensued before a gradual descent into town. Robbie Ventura's mantra of "Go fast when the race is slow" had been ringing thru my head the entire ride and here was the prime place to prove that theory..passed a lot of people up here and kept the pace on, knowing that the last 5km were all downhill, albeit into the wind. I hit 75km/hr on my aerobars down here and managed to beat my bike time from last year by 1 minute in much worse condtions. So I was quite chuffed when I got into T2
Bike time 3h05 total ascent 697m avg power 141 ( think Normalized power would be quite a bit higher) avg HR 157.
T2 2 mins
Out onto the run- its a gradual uphill (into the wind) by the lakefront then along the lakeside on a gravelly track and then thankfully a bit of shelter on the Clutha outlet track where finally had a bit of reprieve from the wind. I was running 5.30ish/km which was ok..I was in a nice rhythm and couldnt go faster or slower.The track is quite undulating and about 11km you pop out of the track and have a long uphill (Gunn Rd) then a long 4 km slight downhill (into the wind again!) down Aubrey Road which I have always found a mental slog.. This year the course had changed so no in and out section here - just straight up 2 steepish hills to the park then back to Beacon Point (into that b****y wind again!) to make up the extra distance (which seemed a LOT longer than the previous in and out on Rata St!). Once out by the lake YAY only 2 km to home and the wind behind me....played a bit of cat and mouse with a woman in the age group above me and manged to outsprint her to the line.
run - 1.52.5x avg Hr 167. 1st 10km in 53.52 11km in 59.08. Pleased I kept my run pace relatively consistent.
Nutrition - 2 gels, bag of GU chomps and most of a bag of cola flavour Powerbar Gel blasts + 2 bottles of water w Nuun.
Coke + water only on run. No issues at all
Thoughts?
Am pleased as went 3 mins quicker than last year in very testing conditions. Mostly pleased as I was in very good headspace for the whole race and didnt waste any energy stressing about the wind or the waves. I had listened to an old episode of IMtalk where the boys interviewed Mark Allen a few weeks ago - his message about focussing on the moment really struck home and I said to myself at the start line that I was really grateful I was fit and healthy enough to be able to do this especially in these beautiful surrounds; I was going to enjoy every minute and I know that my Dad would have been really proud. Yes, I know that all sounds really cheesy but on Saturday I got the "flow" and its a great place to be in
This was also the first time I had raced a longer race with my Power meter - I couldnt stick to the power caps on some of the short steep climbs but where I gained the MOST use of it was when I slacked off (despite thinking I was working) a bit and could see that I could put more effort in. My sole focus for the bike was staying within my power parameters and making sure I ate every 30 mins; the ride would take care of itself and surprisingly I was a minute faster than last year.
I would have liked to run less than 1.50 but maybe its hard to do on this course? I was pleased with relatively even pacing and didnt walk any of it.The wind was very tiring on the run; more so than the bike. The swim was also tiring but my strength has definitely improved and can see all the pullbuoy/paddle work Ive been doing is paying off.
Looking forward to St George now - the longer steady climbs suit me a lot more than steep short rollers. At least the roads there are a lot smoother than here in NZ.
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| New helmet -old one had a crack and failed the check. |
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| Day before the race=perfect weather! |
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Wed 26th January
Well, since this is my first every blog I will keep it brief :))
2011 heralds a bit of the unknown - heading to Utah in May to do Ironman St George and then heading to Penticton to do Ironman Canada in August. So two ironmans in places I have never raced before ( though I have managed to ride some of the St George course) and two iron distance races in the same year. A whole new challenge!
Add to that my resignation from work ..so i will be leaving the comfort zone of the practice I have worked in for the last 11 years at Easter so that I can head somewhere warmer ( either Edinburgh - though debatable how warm that can be in summer- or Australia) to train for IM Canada. Though I will still have to work and hoping I land a cushy locum job somewhere..... 3 days a week wil be fine. Brett is staying home to look after the house and my cat, Jemima since he has just started a new job here in Christchurch supervising some of the rebuilding of earthquake affected residential properties.
So, as mentioned before - a delve into the unknown which is exciting and also a little scary - what better a time to start a blog and document my adventures?!!!
2011 heralds a bit of the unknown - heading to Utah in May to do Ironman St George and then heading to Penticton to do Ironman Canada in August. So two ironmans in places I have never raced before ( though I have managed to ride some of the St George course) and two iron distance races in the same year. A whole new challenge!
Add to that my resignation from work ..so i will be leaving the comfort zone of the practice I have worked in for the last 11 years at Easter so that I can head somewhere warmer ( either Edinburgh - though debatable how warm that can be in summer- or Australia) to train for IM Canada. Though I will still have to work and hoping I land a cushy locum job somewhere..... 3 days a week wil be fine. Brett is staying home to look after the house and my cat, Jemima since he has just started a new job here in Christchurch supervising some of the rebuilding of earthquake affected residential properties.
So, as mentioned before - a delve into the unknown which is exciting and also a little scary - what better a time to start a blog and document my adventures?!!!
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