IM 70.3 Asia-Pacific champs, Auckland.

Short / stats  version:-

5h 15. 32  9th /46 in  F 40-44 AG        

swim : 34. 19
bike  :  2h 49: 23
run:     1h 47.25

Weather - still with a v light breeze, no cloud cover hit ~ 24 degrees by run
Water - 19 degrees ( sea swim) v calm.


Long, wordy version with photos:-


Unusually, this was a Sunday race so I headed up to Auckland on Friday afternoon without having to take any time off work. I arrived late afternoon and once bag + bike was collected, dragged everything outside the terminal to get a taxi and was about to hop in when an overzealous parking attendant in a fluoro vest appeared like the angel of death and declared that the back seat of a taxi was for luggage, not for oversized bike bags and i was flouting airport rules so would have to get a minivan or a shuttle. WTF? After dropping an F-bomb ( or 2) I dragged my bike, bag etc a further 100m to the shuttle stop and paid half the price for a white knuckle ride weaving through 4 lanes of rush hour traffic on the Auckland motorway by the crazy Fijian driver.

Hmm, I wonder why they call Auckland City of Sails??

Relieved to arrive at the Heritage in Hobson Street around 5.30pm in one piece, I found the room and my two roommates for the weekend, fellow Canterbury tri-ers, Michelle+ Sarah. We had a well sized balcony with enough room for three bikes and building/dismantling of bikes and no issues with the hotel who were graciously accommodating. I surmise they must have had a hotel full of triathletes for the weekend, being that we were only 15 minutes walk from race central.

Saturday morning I headed out for a small shake out run to check out some of the course and get the legs moving; had wanted to bike but unable to inflate my front tire due to a broken valve stuck inside my CO2 inflator so had to settle for a short run and then a wee 10 minute cross train in the hotel gym to  keep the legs moving.
The girls headed off on the bus tour taking athletes round the North shore part of the bike course and I went off to have brekky, register and check out the expo.

breakfast JAFA style

Once all the number stickers were stuck in the right places, I trundled down the hill and through the throng of Saturday shoppers along Quay st to take Alberto to the bike shop where the very helpful staff at the Giant bicycle store pumped up my tires, fixed the wonky front brake and I duly returned the hospitality by purchasing ( yet another) CO2 inflator , some Em's power bars, Gu chomps and ……much to my excitement….the last 3 Salted caramel flavour GU gels. Mmmmm.

Like waving your first born off on their first day at school, I left Alberto and my helmet racked and ready for race day then spent some time sifting around the Viaduct basin to pass the time before catching up with a friend, Becs, who now lives in Auckland. The sun was blazing ; not a cloud in the sky and it was getting pretty hot - so much so I had to duck into the expo and buy a cap to help keep the sun off. It didn't prevent my shoulders burning however, rookie mistake. Grrrrr.

Tourist type selfie

After a pleasant catch up on all the gossip with  Becs and a few of the other tri girls we parted ways and walked back to the hotel then headed back out again to find some dinner. I did panic slightly about the amount of time I had spent on my feet ( in jandals, no less!) today and hoped it wasn't going to hamper my race too much. Oh well, too late to do anything about it!  We found a place of Michelle's recommendation - open 24 hours serving wood fired pizza, kebabs and various other culinary offerings. I chose a chicken salad and I was most impressed! Had been tempted by a pizza but prefer those post race and obviously was way too sober to have a kebab for tea :)

We ambled back to the hotel, alarms set for 4.30am and then it was a pleasant snooze until race morning.



Breakfast :

Cup of coffee, banana + 2 teasp peanut butter, Ems gluten free cranberry craze bar.

Once all the morning ablutions were taken care of - business, sunscreen, chafe cream, deep heat , vaseline etc etc we set off around 5.15 and walked down to transition at the Viaduct events centre. I don't know who was more amused - the  smartly dressed, drunk people spilling out of the pubs and clubs on the waterfront or the lycra clad hordes of people armed with wetsuits and bike pumps.  We all had a chuckle and a little nostalgia trip back to our twenties, remembering what it was like to be going home in the early hours after a big night as opposed to being up in the early hours for a big day. Sigh.

SWIM:   34.19

We didn't get much of a swim warm up - lots of arm circles and dynamic stretching for me; our wave ( 35-44 F) was 4th off at 6.31am  after the M+F pros and the 18-34 males. A gentle jump off the wharf in front of the maritime museum had to suffice with a couple of stroke, a wave to the crowd and then we were off! I tried to stay focussed on the mantra I had used in Ashburton- "long, strong and smooth". I was always in a crowded spot throughout the swim but there was not much contact or any aggression. The sea is 19 degrees up here + a clear blue, such a treat compared to the colder, murky waters  of Corsair Bay. A slight sighting error as we were swimming towards the red buoy looking east into the morning sun thankfully didn't cost me too much extra (… maybe I could have dipped under 34 tho ?!!). I must have miscounted the buoys as the next yellow one was just before the exit steps - YAY! Gotta love that .

I am the midget on the left, no cap, post-swim gurn on

BIKE :  2:49 xx

Nooiice wheeeeelz

After a tiki tour around the waterfront, the bike course heads over the Harbour Bridge and follow the northern busway  in a ~ 40 km loop round the North shore.

Two lanes were blocked off for racers and we were riding in the Southbound lane of the busway. It was quite rolling heading over the bridge + through the North shore; more so than I had expected but i was in heaven with the billiard ball smooth roads ( it was like being in America!!) sprinkled with periods of rage at the disorganisation of the other riders that I was stuck with for the whole loop. Some scattered across the road three abreast, lots of cat and mouse going on with the ups and downs, a bit of drafting ..AAAAAGH. However, I had anticipated that this was a likely scenario although I had presumed it would be on the two lap waterfront section once the later waves of age group men started coming through.  I gave myself a stern talking to and instructed myself to STOP wasting energy, STOP climbing the rollers in your big chain ring and RELAX. That worked by default I suppose as I was busting for a wee as we came back over the harbour bridge so I used the descent off the bridge to relieve myself. Sorry, Alberto - I always feel really bad about that :)

Harbour bridge in the background

I had drunk my whole bottle with electrolytes in as planned by the time I returned to the bottle swap at 45km so grabbed a bottle of plain water and that would do for the rest of the ride. It was a glorious day but since we started early, the temperature was perfect- coolish but not cold. Oh, how different from my previous half in November where I was struggling to get my limbs working properly in the cold. The two waterfront laps - out to St Helier's and back - were much less stressful and i was able to relax a little more, being careful to avoid any contact with traffic cones (of which there were millions). It seemed a lot less congested along the waterfront, despite faster age group men zipping past from time to time and again I was in heaven, giving my Rolf prima Ares the treatment they deserve : smooth seal, non pot-holed roads and speeds above 32 kph. Wooooo-hooooo. This course is FAST but the ride itself is quite spiky in effort and application partly due to the congestion  but mostly all the twists and turns through the Viaduct area so I did find my self accelerating and decelerating a lot, standing up on the pedals to pick up my speed once past corners and slower athletes. My avg power was  146 and NP was 159 so you get the picture…. I did have a few moments early on wondering whether I was burning too many matches which would leave me like a damp squib on the run; then decided I was really enjoying the bike and so be it if I burnt matches- sometimes you have to take a risk or you never find out what you are capable of! Plus, I had become obsessed with having a bike time of 2h forty something..!
Apparently still very well hydrated, busting for wees  on the 2nd lap I was struggling to find a place to go - I require a downhill gradient usually. My practical Capricorn mind was calculating that slowing down to pee would not cost me as much time as stopping at a portaloo on the run as even if my speed drops I am still progressing with forward motion….AND I wouldn't be starting the run with the feeling of sloshing around my lower innards. So as we approached Mission Bay I executed my first flat road pee on the bike, which was a highly successful manoeuvre - if I had been aiming to collect my wee in my right shoe.

Once off the bike it felt like a rather long run with the bike and my squelchy shoes into transition and in haste and excitement, threw on my socks + visor and shuffled out into the crowds.

RUN : 1h 47.25

It had warmed up considerably by the time I started my run, chose to wear my visor due to an OD of UV the day previous but it was annoying me a little and considered biffing it ; approximately 3 km later I was very glad to have it! My legs did actually feel like bricks( until exactly halfway) altho when I glanced at the Garmin my pace was not too bad. I was hoping to run 1;45 as expected this to be a faster run course than Ashburton being that it was all on road. It definitely would be, however it was 15 degrees warmer than Ashburton with very little shade and of course a higher, erratic work output on the bike.

When will this suffering be over….?!!

My Garmin was a bit off with the km markers which nettled me somewhat until, again, I gave myself a talking to to just f****g get on with it and run, it is what it is and it's the same for everyone!. Coming back through the Viaduct basin at the end of the first lap was rather nauseating…. that last gel had not slipped down too well and then I caught a whiff of Sunday brunch emanating from the waterfront restaurants; notably a garlic flavour soup type smell. Bleuuugh. I chose to not have anything fluid or otherwise for a bit to let things settle down but was beginning to fade as I approached the turnaround at Mission Bay and my mood was deteriorating. Time to hit the coke  - employed the strategy of small sips and no gulping of air, no trying to drink while running and also dumped a cup of water over my head. Waiting… waiting… no stitch!! Whoop-dee-doo!!. I thought I had picked up my pace for the last 3 km but checking my km splits I was back to running at the same pace, however I did manage to pass at least two other chicks in my age group in that last section of the run which just reinforces the "Its not over til its over" mantra.

I could also feel a blister on my left foot early into the run- it felt like I had a wrinkle in my sock and my right big toe joint was aching with every step; I knew all the walking around in jandals the previous day was going to haunt me at some point!

Once through the winding alleys of the Viaduct I hit the red carpet and dug in to the finish, attempted a Jersey Shore style fist pump at the finish line but it was rather lame :)

The crowd support was AWESOME…. and great to spot the familiar faces of Kerry, Becs and John round the run.

Note to self: don't shove gels down your cleavage, tighten your  hrm  strap #saggytits

I spent the next while in the recovery area drinking, chatting, scoffing orange quarters and a few mini bags of salted crisps. 

We did head to the roll down later on and I could have got a slot to the 70.3 World champs in Mont-Tremblant but I didn't really want to go- none apparently wanted to go as they rolled quite far in most age groups; well, rolled is a loose term- it became "Stand up if you want to go to M-T and we will take the say 2 fastest of those standing". I left and went to get a taxi to the airport and enjoy a fine repast of curry and beer in the Koru lounge so missed out on the after party and other shenanigans.

Post race club foot

Thoughts:

Again, learned another couple of things I can take forward to Ironman and provided I sip slowly, I am confident of using coke as my run rocket fuel of choice:). 

Ogling at bikes boys 

Next up is to actively recover and then 4 day Ironman camp on 30th January. Will post a blog with more exciting adventures then ( my life is so one dimensional  fun!!!). Must remember to snap plenty pics tho.

Sorry, no cat pictures this time.