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| Work selfie |
I did intend to blog but never got around to it so I'll just give a quick fill in:-
4 day Ironman Training Camp:_
This was 4 weeks out from the big day and ran Thursday-Sunday. There were approx 20 athletes on camp and it was mainly bike focussed. My only rule for the camp was "real food only" on the bike as I didn't want to be suffering with a gel hangover on Monday.
Day 1- 200km Chch- Kaikoura + 30 min run off the bike
This ride was ~ 186km from our departure point but I rode to the start ( 10km) then tacked on 4km at the end of the ride.
We set off north ( most unpleasant ride up Marshlands road in busy tradesmen traffic, roadworks + traffic cones) then headed off the main state highway through Rangiora, Ashley and Sefton to pop out in Amberley for out first aid station. I got stuck in the toilet queue here and as I emerged, all i could see was the group I had been riding with pedalling off into the distance……!***!
I couldn't catch them nor hang onto the Axel/John/Phil train that came barreling past especially as its a gradual uphill from Amberley and I think I was a little behind on nutrition. Oh well, the sun was out, we had a light tailwind and it was far better than being at work so I just pedalled along and lived in my own thoughts until the next aid station in Cheviot. I didn't stay too long there and headed off again; soon to hit the Hundalees which offered some good hills ( it was DAM hot in there!!) and a nice descent ( apart from being fucking terrified of the thought of an articulated lorry/stock truck coming down behind me) down to the coast which left only 25km to go to Kaikoura. I was at 196km to the Top ten holiday park so appeased my OCD by riding a further 4km to make it a 200km day. 7 h 15 in the saddle; 150km of that solo. Yusss.
I joined Emma for a 30 minute T-run which was rather hot and my Em's power bar was still sitting in my stomach.
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| Aid station with cool silhouette selfie:) |
Day 2- 45 min off road run - 135km bike Kaikoura-Hanmer Springs - 15 min T-run
We started off the day with a run round the headlands by the seal colony. Would love to do that on fresher legs as it's just my kind of run- trail, hilly+fresh coastal air. Again my OCD took hold ( much to others amusement) and after returning to the car park in 44:27, we ran up the road and back to ensure the stopwatch had ticked over to 45 mins. Yep, I am a crazy obsessive-compulsive type.
A yummy breakfast followed then back on the horse for today's ride which although shorter in distance, has plenty of climbing to compensate. I got blown off the back of the Nadia train within ~ 90 secs thus decided it would be another day tootling along at my own pace. I rode with the back half of our group for a while and then we all scattered apart a little once we hit the hills. I rejoined with Emma at the first aid station so we rolled along through the climbs at our own pace with plenty of conversation and picked up Dave and Mark in Waiau. Mark was struggling a little so opted to sit at the back while the three of us rotated the 40 km to Hanmer. I hit a very bad patch around 25km from Hanmer and was distracted by thoughts of throwing myself under the wheels of oncoming traffic or over the Waiau bridge ( yes, THAT bad!!). However, the promise of coffee on arrival in Hanmer Springs buoyed me up and I was able to drag myself through the suffering ( many thanks to Dave and Emma for this one…)
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| What on earth have we done to Mark?!! |
I had a wee 15 min run off the bike after a nanosecond's deliberation regarding tacking on to make it 150-160 km day. N.F.W.
A visit to the hot pools in the evening was very welcome to all the tired legs despite all the flabby white people with misspelt tattoos in abundance. Although I am sure they wondered who all the people with odd tan lines were?!
Day 3- pre brekky swim and 3+ hour run around the local trails.
Blegh is probably the most descriptive word I can apply to how I felt on sleeping and waking. Stomach was in serious rebellion and I couldn't decide whether puking or evacuating from the other end would fix my woes. I managed to get my way through an hour of swimming but decided against going with the majority to run the St James trail for fear of needing to visit the toilet and the only bush up there is matagouri ( very spiky native bush - not good for pit stops unless you want needles up your bum and the spikes are very small so no privacy :).
My preferred option would have been to go lie on my bed and wait until the aliens growing in my tummy decided it was time to head to another planet but no, better to go get it over with. Feeling this crap could be another tool to put in the box for Ironman…..Anyway, after an hour of running and another visit to the loo, I started to feel a LOT better although my pace was only a little faster than "shuffle" pace. I thoroughly enjoyed my tiki tour through Hanmer forest plugged into my iPod ; being an introvert and an only child to boot means that some solo time is a daily requirement to maintain sanity. Probably explains my loathing of team sports!
We walked into town for coffee #2 of the day and an ice cream in the afternoon to loosen off the legs then back to the forest camp for dinner followed by a trip to the pub for some social time.
Day 4 - run longer loop (4km) to pool for a swim and ride back to Chch ( 146km)
Thankfully my stomach had returned to normal after being very cautious with food intake on Saturday. Today's swim felt like a bit of a death march as my legs were very heavy combined with general fatigue.
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| Riding Barbies |
After breakfast and takeaway coffee, our group set off at steady pace. The sun was out and promised a decent day weather wise, thankfully. The route home is a net downhill but the first ~40km to Culverden is rolling. A quick loo stop here and then we set off to Waikari where the aid station was set up to refill bottles and Em's power bars. We were working in a single pace line and rotating ; once out on SH1 at Waipara the road is very rough and I realised my error of inflating my tyres to 110 psi as my bike was bouncing around - highly unpleasant on the undercarriage given the previous weekend's mileage! The fuel tank seemed to be close to the empty gauge for most of this day; I guessed I was playing catch up from Saturday as I had knowingly eaten less than I needed to allow my guts to calm down and get back to normal.
Sunday afternoon traffic on SH1 is busy and I found the whole ride rather mentally stressful until we arrived at the Palms and wound our way home ( in a smaller group) through the suburbs. I did consider tacking on a loop of the downs to make it 160km but I didn't.
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| Training is SOOO last year, Mum! |
A few easier days beckoned ( TSB of -57!!) then back into the last pre-IM block. Aside from S-B-R, this was a busy time with podiatry visits, massages, packing/cleaning bikes+ gear, admin……copious list-writing…….mad panic when informed that my Team BSR kit was not going to arrive in time so thanks to a good friend letting me try out her SOAS racing gear and excellent service from Amanda at SOAS racing in Australia ( www.soasracing.com.au) , my black carbon tri kit arrived 4 days before IMNZ. I had already worn my friend Nicky's kit on a bike/run which confirmed it was a good choice - I didn't want to wear the shorts I had on in Auckland as they don't have a flat locked seam on the tri-chamois and I wouldn't be able to bear that for 180km !
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| Mid gorges lolly stop |
While I was at camp, Brett was off to Blenheim for the start of the Kiwi Brevet ……..You can read all about his adventures here.
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