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| Lets get this party started! |
After a quick spray of sunscreen from the kind volunteers from the Melanoma foundation, I shuffled out of transition and forced down a mint chocolate GU. My legs felt detached from the rest of my body but I checked the Garmin and pace was OK, remembering I felt similar in Auckland. The arthritic toe joint on my right foot was rather stiff and painful; this is normally the case when I go from bike to run but it usually comes right after 10-15 minutes.
Run mantra was in keeping with the tone of the day - one foot in front of the other, making forward progress at all times!! I was still carrying the slight nauseous sensation that I had towards the end of the bike but some how had become aware that in fact I was probably a bit low on calories so gave myself strict instruction to take another gel ~ 40 mins later. This was a peanut butter flavour GU and I had to drip feed it to myself ( to avoid reverse tasting ) over a couple of kms. My right foot was still aching and hadn't eased off so I thought it would be wise to down the 2 panadol I was carrying in my little ziplock bag. More coordination issues followed with my clubbed feet-for-hands situation as I tried to take out the pills from the bag, ensuring I didn't drop my other GU gels in the process, while running. I did manage said task however so hoped they would take the edge off.
I had to stop for a pee ( in the portaloo this time- I can't pee + run!) not long after the turnaround and felt instantly better and a bit less bloated.
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| On return leg of lap1- still sucking on that MOFO gel |
The last time I had raced in Taupo, the run course was only two laps and now it has changed to three laps of 14 km. I wasn't sure how I felt about this but I think I prefer it as it is much easier to break down into chunks. I turned around the giant-sized Nutri-grain box and then headed out on lap 2, trying to spot Brett and others in the crowd but it was all a little blurry. I had the odd sensation that I may pass out at one stage coupled with thoughts that that would actually be great - then I wouldn't have to run the rest of the marathon ****WARNING WARNING BONK COMING VERY SOON*****. (Yep, if only that banner had been presented to my eyes then I may have avoided the impending implosion and struggle to run faster than 6.20/km. )
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| First lap..... |
Anyhoo, at the 20km aid station I decided it was time to hit the coke. My strict "No Walk" policy was in force which means I allow myself 20 secs at the aid station to do a very fast walk and then its time to get running again. The coke was super flat so I had no stitch or gassy tummy issues. Baaaah- I need to pee again, what the hell?!! The portaloo next to where the volunteers were placing the lap armbands on was occupied so I shuffled on, passing a couple of the other girls from Chch I knew as hadn't seen anyone all day. Next aid station had a portaloo so another wee stop and then I was on my way. I was also grabbing the odd handful of salty chips and sucking them or licking the salt off. No way was I having any more gels, for some reason the thought was still making me retch. The aid stations are fabulous however and very well stocked with a wide range of goodies - orange quarters, pretzels. salty crisps, mini moro bars, barley sugars...... Shortly after that a fridge freezer landed on my back and my pace dropped to 6.15+ /km and I couldn't seem to move any quicker! In keeping with the day's mantra however, I kept shuffling along knowing it was a bad patch and likely to pass; keep swigging the coke and whatever else at the next aid station, trying to forget how uncomfortable my big toe was. I was still passing people who were walking at this stage and that's always great for a mental boost. By the time I turned around the giant Nutri-grain box for the second time, the pace was beginning to pick up and the fridge-freezer had shrunk down to... oh, a chilly bin (!!)
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| Last lap...even overtaking 3-legged people :) |
Main focus now was working out what pace I had to run to ensure there was an 11h XX in my time. To give myself a 2 minute buffer, I would need to average 6 min/km. That gave me immense motivation and I knew from my training paces that I had the capability of running under 6 min/km average ( knowing that I would be a bit slower than that on a couple of the small hills but could run quite a bit quicker on the downhills+ flats). So I basically just trotted along from aid station to aid station, swallowing coke, sucking on ice chips and snatching cups of salty chips as that's all that seemed palatable. I did a fast walk up the hill at Wharewaka then once back at the turnaround that was it; I just picked people off one by one.......not in the sense of "beating them" but it gave me short focussed targets to catch. Once back onto Lake Terrace ( the main road- not the lakeside path) there was just under 3km to go. Ok, just a bit more than running home from Zeroes cafe....Ok, just a run home from Pioneer......As with most races, it seemed a looooooonnngg way to the finish line once I passed the giant Nutri-grain box. I almost thought I wasn't going to make it, but I did, then promptly keeled over and carted off to medical. They checked my blood pressure, blood sugar and then had to help me upright to stand on the scales. I had lost 1.5kg since my rego weigh in which I would expect after a long event. I lay there for about 10 minutes but was starting to get chilly so they let me go, I collected my finisher t-shirt and bumped into a few others I knew in the recovery tent so we found a corner to sit in and got some food. I couldn't face the ice-cream or anything sweet but managed two cups of hot soup and bread and then a slice of pizza.
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| No fist pump at this show |
My foot was aching , the little toe on my right foot had become blistered ( from a blister 2 weeks previous that was still healing) and burst so my trainer was blood stained but I was relatively unscathed in other areas :-
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| Genetically modified foot - the joint was 2x this size post IM!! |
- My blue seventy helix is the first wetsuit I've had that doesn't give me a massive hickey on my neck.
-No chafing from my kit, only minor saddle chafing.
-Quads and ITBs felt exceedingly good during the run compared to previous IMs. I think that was probably down to the extreme endurance.
Ended up with a total finish time of 11h 57.13, 7th in 40-44 ag,
Thoughts:-
-The cobble lakeside path was quite uncomfortable to run on; the smoother asphalt seemed heavenly compared to that. Of course, I may have been biased due to my foot discomfort.
- Need to take more notice of my HR ( I record it but don't have it showing on my Garmin display) on the run to check for bonking.
- Gave it everything I had on the day so I am satisfied. Ended up 7th in my AG which is my highest AG placing in an Ironman.
- Disappointingly, I was unable to finish my post race Burger fuel burger or drink beer. I had been looking forward to that moment for months.... but got too chilly sitting outside still wearing damp, sweaty tri kit underneath my morning clothes. Then we were locked out when we arrived back at the holiday house, but that's a story for another day......
- Didn't eat ANY of my salted caramel GUs with extra sodium and caffeine. Bummer, I had been looking forward to those during the bike ride.
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| "Right, this is definitely my last last Ironman, ever......" |
