Only the good die young

This morning I received some news I didn't want and would have been very happy to have returned to sender.

from my Facebook page:
the world lost an amazing person last night. One of the people I respected and admired the most passed away and I am really saddened by the news. 

RIP Knowlesy, you were a gentleman, an awesome workmate and the funniest guy I know. 

Goodbye, Cyber Controller.

Tri coaching is fantastic

Today I headed out to Bucklands Beach for a tri training session with the Auckland City Tri Club.  What an awesome way to spend a Saturday morning.  Daniel, Darragh and Roger are great blokes with oodles of knowledge to share and share they did.  I got confirmation that I'm doing most things right, picked up some great tips for water starts, beach starts, wave starts, seeding, deep water swimming and swimming with currents, and a good tip on where to put my helmet to save some time in T1.

I met three awesome ladies from out my way in Auckland, and we're all doing the next TriWoman event in two weeks so that's cool too, and we're all interested in setting up a ladies tri club out our way.  I think next weekend being Easter will be a good time to get out on that event course and do a session, so there are no nasty surprises on race day.  I think the bike course could be a little gnarly in places, having driven over most of it several times now, but I'll leave judgement on that until I ride it next weekend.

This morning I learned that I am not afraid of deep water.  I don't care if I can't touch the bottom, I can float and tread water just fine and besides, I can always roll over and do backstroke if I need a break.  That's good - I won't freak out in out and round swims in sprint and oly distances, let alone halves and full irons in future.  Wicked!  I loved the simulated swim with the tailwind current this morning, it was so fast I was almost lethal!

Swim coaching was good today too.  My arms were slightly had it from this morning, so I wasn't pushed hard.  But, my swim fitness still needs work so that will be the subject of next week's session.  It was weird to just go home afterwards and not have to rush out and register for a tri.  I think the off season is going to be a bit dull if I don't find things to fill it with.  I'm not sure if I'll continue with swim lessons next term or actually work with a tri coach instead.  I have to think about it some more.

I'm keeping this post short and sweet as I have finally finished one assignment but still have a 2000 word essay to write.  Catch you when that's done (or nearly done).

Ciao.

I’m counting the beat…2,3,4,5...

Okay, this entry is mostly about music.  For those of you who know me well, you are aware of my almost obsessive need to keep my iPod fresh and full of good tunes.  It used to be just for the hell of it, but now it is all about having good stuff to listen to when I am training.  In fact, I want a waterproof mp3 player (like a Speedo Aquabeat) so I can listen to music while I am swimming too.  LOL.

I have had occasions where I have been walking through the lounge on my way to the kitchen to get a snack or protein shake, and my flatmate has had one of the music channels on.  I have stopped dead in my tracks because the song on TV has caught my attention, and before I can blink, I am on iTunes downloading it! 

I have had songs literally stalk me when I have been on holiday - no matter where I have gone, a song has followed me.  On my trip to Melbourne in 2008, it was Sam Sparro’s “Black and Gold” chasing me through malls, bus trips and on the radio.  On my last trip to Melbourne, it was Gossips’ “Heavy Cross”. Vanessa Amorossi, The Veronicas and Lady Gaga have also chased me, relentlessly. 

Then there are the songs that remind you of your holidays.  Melbourne 2008 – “Sex on Fire” by Kings of Leon while driving through the Yarra Valley, and “No Lies” by Noiseworks when driving back to the city; and “Bad Influence” by Pink at my first pole class.  Sydney March 2009 – “Someday Soon” by Natalie Bassingthwaighte while driving around Sydney during Earth Hour (hey, I was not driving and I had forgotten all about Earth Hour).  Melbourne September 2009 – back for a pole class and haunted by “Love Game” by Lady Gaga.  Crowded House reminds me of my trip down the Great Ocean Road, and “Hey Mickey” reminds me of the road trip I had to Ballarat with Fiona, Neville and Debbie.

So, what do I listen to when I am training?  I have playlists according to what type of exercise I am doing.  Why, I hear you ask?  Depends on the tempo of what I am doing.  Obviously listening to 80BPM, when doing a tempo ride, will not mesh well, and neither will 128PBM when you are trying to stretch.

On my running playlist, I have the following, plus a few hundred more:

• Running with the devil - Van Halen
• Young hearts run free - Candi Staton
• Shoot the runner - Kasabian
• Run - Shihad
• Running down a dream - Tom Petty
• Running – Evermore
• Run baby run – Sheryl Crow

 On one of my ride playlists, I have:

• Enter Sandman - Metallica
• One will hear the other - Shihad
• The fixer – Pearl Jam
• Ready to go - Elastica
• I need a miracle - Fragma
• Taking off – The Cure
• Banquet – Bloc Party
• Sex on Fire – Kings of Leon
• Assassin - Muse

So yes, I am a little music-obsessed.  I have over 13,000 songs in my iTunes library and about 35 playlists.  Music can keep you going when you legs and brain want to stop.  It can set your pace, break your pace or make your pace.  It can pump you up or calm you down.  Thanks to Ironman NZ, my new victory song is “Human” by The Killers.  I used to hate it, but after hearing it at the finish line, it reminds me of Ironman.  I now have to listen to it after every triathlon, which is my new thing (along with a small Pandemonium Hell Pizza and a nap).

I have had a good massage today, which I needed as jeepers, I am bloody sore!  I probably could have done with another day without swimming but needed to get back into something for some endorphins alone.   My massage therapist has told me no arm work tonight, so it looks like I may just have to do a bike-run brick followed by core work.  What a shame!  There is brand spanking new equipment at my gym to play with (new treadmills and new bikes), so I will do my brick there tonight.

I have a special training session on Saturday morning with a tri coach.  It is a tri simulation session for newbies (including how transition works etc) followed by a baby triathlon, but I am going along to see what I can pick up as a more experienced triathlete.  There will be stuff I can take away from it and to be honest, I am so hooked on triathlon that even the prospect of an ultra-baby distance training simulation has me excited!  No, I do not have a life, in case you were wondering.

More later, have uni assignments due left right and centre and I need to get onto them.

Medals and massage

I finally have my TriWoman finisher’s medals engraved.  When I say finally, I mean I finally have number one engraved but since it took so long to get around to it, I had number two engraved at the same time.  I decided I should get off my jacksy, and have medals one and two done before I get number three in 2.5 weeks’ time.  LOL!  Now I just need to figure out where I will hang them. 

They look great; here is a photo of the handiwork:

In other news, I am getting weekly massages now.  We have two sports masseuses who are awesome (one is more awesome but that is life) and come into work on alternating weeks.  Tomorrow Paula will be smoothing me out post-race.  Last week it was Kirsten doing post-race and pre-race.  The joys of having two triathlons on back-to-back weekends means an almost weekly massage, and it is good for my muscles so I will continue with it.

I am back to swim training tonight, after three days of rest from swimming.  Doing a hard pool coaching session the day before a tri is probably not ideal (especially with only 16 hours of rest in between) but that is how my schedule pans out so it is just tough!  I will make sure there are no freestyle sprints or long distance sessions before the next and final two triathlons of the season – I want to kick some jacksy and get a PR at Mission Bay on 18 April.

I have also had the last two days off training, as two back-to-backs have left me physically exhausted (Monday) and mentally exhausted (Tuesday).  I did a lot of walking both days, had spas and did some aqua jogging but was just too tired to actually train properly.  I wanted to get back into it last night but I was just too tired.  I fell asleep on the train and woke up three stations past my usual one, which was not cool.  I am definitely beginning to plead post-race stupidity syndrome – caused by my suspicion that your body is diverting all its energy and resources away from your brain, in order to repair your muscles. 

Lucky for me I have the day off after both the next two events – I have people to take to medical appointments in the afternoons but at least I get to sleep in, relax and recover the next morning.  The best part is that there will be no post-race stupidity at work as I will not be there, struggling to stay focussed and awake when all I really want to do is eat and sleep!

I have 2.5 weeks until number six and 3.5 weeks until number seven.  Wahoo!  The next one is the longest distance to date by 1km and tonnes of hills, but I cannot see that being a huge dramatic problem.  I would rather take a bit longer at that one, and save myself for the super-duper sprint one the following weekend, which will be my PR event for the season.  The next few weeks will be all about bike sprints, bike hills, increasing my swim endurance, and dropping my run time. 

I have a funny feeling that I will be making good use of my windtrainer and virtualrider DVD, especially since it decided to start raining again this afternoon.  At least it is a pool session tonight, and I have treadmills at the gym to run on if it is hosing down outside.  One day I may have to race in the rain but for now, I would quite like to avoid drowning my Asics, thanks very much!

So what the hang am I going to do in the off season?  Fun runs and bike events, of course, interspersed with wind trainer and treadmill sessions, pool swims and whatever else I can think of.  I miss Salsa, Bachata and Bellydance, which I gave up to pursue triathlon.  So, more dancing is on the cards.  More Yoga.  More Pilates.  Basically, I'm going to become a dancing and fitness machine.

My first fun run is a 10km in Rotorua in May (part of the Marathon) and with a four-day weekend I will have days off either side and many hot pools at my disposal. In addition, I will get to see lots of geothermal stuff, which is one of my interests besides triathlon, fitness, dancing, music, Pilates, scrapbooking, travel and photography. I will of course take photos of that geothermal stuff to scrapbook later.

My second fun run will be 10km at funrun pink in Melbourne in August. Then, either another 10km or a half Marathon later in the year. Triathlon season kicks back up around October/November so there's six months to start training for sprint and Olympic distance events. I'll still do super sprint and fun distances, but the key to my Ironman New Zealand 2012 plan is to get sprints and olys knocked off at the end of this year so I can do half irons next year and then Irons from 2012.

That's the plan...stay tuned!

Post race analysis - Tri #5

What went well?

• The bike leg.  I had a good bike, including getting up to warp speed on lap two.
• Getting a bike check three days prior (primarily because I couldn’t get my darn front wheel off, ha ha)
• Passing people on the run (oma rapiti!)
• Having exactly what I needed in transition (eventually), nicely laid out
• Bike to run transition went smoothly
• Petrol in the car the day before
• Breakfast (porridge good)
• Support crew
• Race photos

What did not go so well?

• Getting into the city fringe on the Motorway and finding it closed, so having to go cross-country.  It later transpired that the motorway closed due to an overturned truck losing its load of watermelons, mushrooms and something else.  Thank heck I always leave early but even then I was cutting it fine
• Getting to transition about 15 minutes after it opened, and ending up with a crappy rack spot, resulting in losing my bike every time I went into transition.
• Too much swim training the day before
• Having my gel too late in the event
• Swim to bike transition needs a bit of practice

What do I need to work on for next time?

• Leave an extra 20 minutes early for any triathlon involving a trip on the motorway (and random fruit spilled on said motorway)
• Arrive before transition opens – about 15 mins before at least
• Sorting out my left ankle ligament pain, I am sick to death of the pain when running.
• Find a yoga class.  I need some flexibility!
• Need to have my caffeine gel straight after swim, not halfway through the bike.  That way it should kick in right when I need it (on the run).  Therefore, I will tape the gel to my seat.
• Continue to increase fitness and muscular endurance
• Could do with a shoehorn in transition…LOL

Sub 1hr 10min performance at Pt Chev!

I achieved my goal yesterday, hooray!  I wanted to finish Pt Chev in less than 1hr 10min and I did – in 1hr 9mins 14secs.  Now that is what I call awesome.  My splits were as follows:

Swim + T1      00:14:06

I was a bit sore going into the swim, thanks to the epic performance the day before.  My actual swim time was 7:16, which is slightly slower than my PR 100m time of 2:19 but that is okay, it was three times that distance and in filthy water yesterday.  Then there was a pig of a track uphill to transition, a slight case of losing my bike due to a suboptimal racking position, and having to wash my feet twice to remove all the sand, mud and funny grass.  Oh yeah, and then I was jammed into my rack by the silly woman next to me doing a duathlon. 

Bike + T2       00:25:03

I was happy with this time, especially my bike to run transition, which took next to no time after finding my bike rack again.  My average bike speed was 19km but my top speed was 40.7kph.  I must remember not to blow up my legs on lap two of the bike, as I came close to doing so yesterday but then backed off and glided in to transition.  Even with transition factored in, I was doing about three minute kilometres, so that was a good effort!

Run                 00:30:05

Considering this has never been my strength, it was not too bad.  I did pause at the aid stations for water and a bit of a rest; I dropped my drink bottle and had to chase it down the road and under a car, and I had to stop for cars three times.  Without the mucking around it would have been about 27 minutes, so 9-minute kilometres are good (6.66km per hour, ha ha).

Total               01:09:14

WOOHOO!!!!!

Nevertheless, it is time for a rant. 

The woman in the first wave who walked the whole swim angered me (and I was not the only one in the crowd that felt peeved about this).  My support crew heard some marshals commenting on this but clearly, she will get away with it or already has.  I do not think its fair on those who actually put in the hard yards and actually swim or attempt to swim, to let someone walk the whole swim section.  If you cannot swim even a single stroke, do not do the swim, do a duathlon - simple as that. 

Moreover, I overhead her boasting about it later which really riled me, as I do not think cheating is anything to boast about.  Sure, get out there in your bathers and have a crack at triathlon, which is the point and spirit of the event.  If you run out of steam from swimming, then stand up and take a break, but walk the whole thing?  NO! At least try to swim and if you cannot swim, get some lessons! You are not going to win anyone’s respect or admiration by cheating and boasting.  Should we all just go out and walk the swim leg?  I don’t think so!  If you want to aqua jog, go find a pool.

I have actually committed to training for triathlons and am taking swim lessons and doing the hard yards in the pool, on the bike and on the road.  People who do not even try really get on my goat.  If you are not going to put in the effort required, stop expecting results.  Get off your jacksy, go do some work, stop being so lazy, and stop bitching about not achieving what you want.  The only person who can do it is YOU.

 

Sore but Stoked

Triathlon number five is complete.  I am officially five times as awesome, as I was before I started this triathlon thing.

Photo credit: Elizabeth Milne using my camera, 2010

Today went pretty well.  Nothing went wrong, I didn't forget anything (yep, remembered the lip balm), and I think I did it either in close to the time I wanted or pretty much bang on.  I may have even been under - we'll see tomorrow when the times are up.  

I had a pretty good swim, apart from being kicked in the shoulder once and swum into.  Pity the swim wave starts were so disorganised and chaotic.  Instead of the nice cones and lane letter signs we had at Narrowneck, it was all a bit topsy turvy today.  I got sick of the chaos and got into the water to wait out my wave start.  I figured it was easier not to have to expend extra leg energy if I didn't have to.  Getting into the water is awesome, and because I could only just hear the guy on the loudhailer, I had no racing heartbeat, no pre-start nerves and a nice relaxed swim start.  

The swim itself was a bit gross.  The bottom of the water there is pretty much mud, so I want to take like 15 showers to clean it all off.  The water went from blue to brown and I couldn't see a thing in front of me, but my sighting and navigation is pretty good now so it wasn't a biggie.  The trudge up the hill to transition was more problematic, I had to dodge beer bottle tops to avoid a repeat of Mission Bay and semi-dry grass isn't great to run on, especially with tree roots underneath it.  Meh, again no biggie.

T1 today was pretty good and pretty fast for a change.  Except for one minor issue - some woman sticking her bike so close to mine that I cut my leg on her pedal when trying to get my bike out of the rack.  Damn those metal nasty cheap standard pedals!  It's just a small chunk out of my leg, nothing major.  I got out of transition running with my bike, in my bike shoes.  I mounted without a kerb (hooray for judder bars [aka speed bumps]) and set off up the road.  

The bike course was good.  It was mostly flat, with a couple of minor rises requiring a couple of gear changes.  On the way back towards transition it got pretty fast - on lap two, I was over 40kph and not even pushing a hard gear.  I think my bike split will be good, after all, it was only 8km.  My dismount was better than last week, but I still need more practice when there's no kerb to use to get off.  Heck knows why, I dismount without drama in my driveway all the time.  I did down my gel a bit late in the piece but it kicked in at the end of the run when I needed it.  I should have had it straight after the swim but that's life.

T2 was fast - rack up, swap shoes, take off helmet, stick on run cap and go for it.  I actually ran out of T2 and up the road a bit before doing intervals for almost the whole run.  That's fine with me, it's something to work on in the off season when I have six months to improve my fitness, endurance and technique.  

I made use of the water at the aid station, drank my grape mizone on the run and was well pleased to hear there was only 300m to go.  I'd been tailing two ladies for about 1km and it was nice to pass them at the end of the run.  

I don't know what my time was yet but I'm hoping for 1hr 10mins or under.  I might be out by a minute or so but I don't think I would have gone over.  

At prizegiving, I won a new "winter" 2XU cap.  Nice!  It will go well with my race belt, run cap, socks, shirts, swim caps, compression socks and whatever else I acquire.  I wasn't feeling lucky (punk) but I won something anyway so that was cool.  

So, post race analysis will have to wait as I need a nap, and there's triathlon on TV at 4pm.  I've had my post-race treat (Hell Pizza, mmmm), done my house chores for the week (my arms are complaining after mopping and vacuuming) and now it must be time to laze around the house for a while.  Later it's spa time, then it's stretching time, dinner time, nice long soak in the bath time, followed by bedtime!

Ciao :-)

Triathlete Number 245 reporting for duty!

Okay, so tomorrow is triathlon number 5.  I'm pretty excited, and the nerves are starting to settle down now.  I think doing five triathlons inside three months does that to you!

Swim coaching was awesome today, we didn't do sprints (awesome), instead Phoebe had me doing blocks of 100m, then 200m, then I did a 350m!  Woohoo!  I wanted to die afterwards, my arms were grumbling but my lungs were fine.  I didn't think I could swim that far nonstop but I can...probably going to pay for it in the drink at tri #5 tomorrow but MEH! 

I've been and registered, bought a giant steak for dinner, drunk more fluid than I probably needed and now I'm trying to stay off my feet.  Easier said than done, but lazing around watching a couple of movies should help.  

Bag is packed for the tri, bike is in the car, and now it's giant steak time!  

Catch you all tomorrow.

Lane swimming rules

On Wednesday night, I did my first evening lane swim at the local pool.  What a difference paying $2.70 for a bit of peace and quiet made to my training!  

There was no riff-raff, aqua joggers were non-existent, no slow people in the medium lane, in fact, no people in my lane at all!  I had a whole lane to myself, and although I know it sounds selfish, I like it that way.  I can swim at my own pace, in my own time, and not have to have ridiculously long enforced rest breaks between sets due to someone with a kickboard getting in the way.  I did my 600 metres and got out, smiling for a change.

The best part of the session was the spa afterwards.  Ten minutes of soaking tired muscles in a nice bubbly spa pool was blissful.  The changing rooms and showers were clean and empty, so overall it was probably the best pool session I have ever had. 

Of course, the fact that I had just passed my last practical assessment at Uni (being exercise instruction) probably assisted with the bliss and happiness.  It was nice to hear, “Congratulations, you’re done”, after a year of hard slog.  Hooray!  I now get a funky shirt with my Uni name on it and a nice drink bottle.  I guess that means I will have a uniform to wear when training clients, which is excellent! 

After hearing “Congratulations, you’re done” I was really fired up for my swim session.  I was also pretty fired up for sticking my bike on the new wind trainer, so I when I got home from work yesterday I tried to take off the front wheel.  FAIL! The springs for my front skewer were stuck in the wheel core, and would not budge.  I loaded the bike into the car and went down to my trusty bike shop for help.  Nick undid the skewer and gave the diagnosis as the springs being in round the wrong way. Ugh!  I thought it looked a little odd but was not quite sure why. 

Well, I do not know who has been playing with my bike for the past two months but I certainly have not taken off my wheel.  Nick stuck my wheel back on with the springs around the right way, pumped up my tires with an air compressor, checked my brakes and gears quickly and pronounced it fit for triathlon number 5.  I took the bike home, took the front wheel off and stuck her on the trainer. 

Aside from needing a stepladder to get on and off the bike while it is on the trainer, it is all good.  However, the stabiliser is too far forward so I need Allen keys to move it back to sit under the crankshaft.  Once adjusted, I will be pedalling off into the night on an Avanti Sprint wind trainer!

I have found and ordered a virtual rider DVD.  This one has you riding out to the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia.  I cannot wait for it to arrive, so I can chuck it on my laptop and get pedalling on my bike.  That will get me more saddle time, more cleat time and a healthy dose of (virtual) reality for my training. 

With triathlon number five coming this weekend, I want to go out and do it in less than 1 hr 12 minutes.  The swim is 300m so that should take under 12 minutes including an uphill crawl to transition and getting to my rack.  The bike is 8km so that should take about 20-25 minutes.  The run is 3km, which will take about 25 minutes.  With five minutes extra thrown in for transitions and getting off my bike, I am thinking around 1hr 10 minutes. 

I really would like a PR.  I should be able to achieve my desired timeframe, considering my swim has improved markedly in the last couple of weeks, the bike is shorter than normal and I am feeling good after two massages this week!  Bring it on!

Tri-ing again – Triathlon #4

I have just completed my fourth triathlon.  I am indeed a machine – and I like it!

Tri #4 was race three in the Panasonic series this season, and was at Maraetai Beach.  I went out to registration on Saturday afternoon after my swim coaching session.   I made sure I sighted the swim course and drove the bike course, but I could not see the run course.  I am glad now that I did not see it before the race; it was a pig of a trail run up and down hills on a shell track.  It was probably 55% uphill – yuck.

In swim coaching this week, we worked on backstroke drills, which was interesting and loosened up my shoulders.  Next week it is sprints again, although I voiced my concerns on this as I have a 300m swim the next day.  I do not want to blow out my arms the day before a bigger tri!  I am starting to think I need to join a swim squad, but could do with more endurance before I do that. Turns out my head is too far back and my feet need to come up a little more when I am doing backstroke, but my hips and knees are in the right position – probably because that is where all my body fat is stored, and fat floats!  My freestyle technique is awesome now, so I just need to work on endurance then speed.

I also got a pedicure, had a good dinner and an early night.  I didn’t sleep well as I kept waking up and my flatmate woke me up when he came home drunk at 4.30am, but I had enough sleep to make up for the wakeups.  I also had a very early night on Friday and slept pretty well then too.  I ate well all weekend, drank plenty of fluids and got lots of rest.

I got up, had breakfast (cereal, milk, yogurt, toast and vegemite) and put my pre-packed transition bag in the car.  I’ve learnt that one bag is more than enough when you have no support crew, and in fact probably even when you do.  In that one small green supermarket eco bag, I had my special needs bag for after the race, my race gear and my change of clothes for afterwards.  Sorted – or so I thought.  I forgot to pack my recovery formula, and lip balm.  Mental note to self – stick a spare lip balm in my saddle bag!

I drove out to Maraetai and arrived excessively early.  I scored a premium parking spot right next to transition and sat around to chillout out by watching the sea and listening to my iPod.  I bought a latte pre-race (will not be doing that again, see later in the day for why), and sat on the beach to drink it. Then I racked up in transition, lay my gear out and took a few photos.  Before I knew it, race briefing had started and it was time to get out of transition and hit the water. 

The water was okay until waist-depth.  After a minute or so, I was used to the temperature so I paddled around a bit for a warm up.  Good move – this paid off well at Takapuna despite my bad back, and it paid off again today.  My suggestion is to get into the water close to the start time, so when you do have to enter (regadless of a wave start on the beach or a water start) your body is not trying to recover from the shock of the cold wetness and warm you up at the same time as trying to swim. 

A few minutes later, we were off.  I ended up about three metres from the start line of the swim, thanks to a huge bunch of slow people who got in the middle and at the front, slowing the rest of us down.  I actually passed someone on the swim despite having a left arch foot cramp, while swimming the whole way with my face in the water and non-stop.  I am such a legend!  Of course, that person got up in the water and took off into transition before I did, but I wanted to save my legs for the bike and run, so I stayed swimming and kicking until my fingertips hit the sand before getting up. 

My swim spilt was 2:17, not bad at all!  I have been doing 2:30 or so in the pool lately, and that was with streamlining and an exact 100m distance instead of the 103m I ended up with today.  I was happy with my swim today, and for the first time ever in a triathlon!  I took my time walking the very short distance into transition, and proceeded to plod around trying to find my bike.  The racks were a little weird in their setup and I did not have my normal transition towel as I had used it at swim coaching the day before – so I borrowed one off my flatmate.  FAIL! 

I finally found my bike, rinsed the sand off my feet, put on my socks, bike shoes, run top, helmet, gloves, and sunnies – then gulped down a caffeine gel before I realised that I had done a Sam Warriner and nearly took off with my race number belt still on my handlebars and almost caught in my wheel.  I stopped, told myself off, and put it on properly before turning it around and jogging up the chute to the bike exit.  My heart rate was still a little high, despite a rather lengthy transition, so I took it easy on the first 1km of the bike to warm up my legs. 

The bike was not too bad, overall.  I am sure that it was not 10km though; I feel it was more and I am quite sure of this.  I drove the bike course the day before and did not hit the trip meter in my car until 400m past the bike exit, and it was still more than 5km to Duders Beach (the turnaround for my event).  Ah well, Cest la vie! 

There were a few very narrow parts to the ride, with big 4WD vehicles towing big boats that got a bit close at some parts.  It was a winding and undulating ride at times, but it was okay.  I was dead last by a country mile on the way out to Duders, but managed to pass a few people on the return to Maraetai.  That felt good (it always does), despite my knowledge that they would probably pass me on the run.

Ah yes, the run.  Oh heck…it was awful.  I got back to transition, racked up, took off my helmet, forgot my run cap, took off my bike shoes, put on my trusty Asics and took off, dropping my ventolin on the way out of transition.  I got past the boat club and saw a big uphill path, and was not happy.  A few young girls were perched on a pillar, yahooing at everyone who ran past.  I told them that they would have to yahoo loud for me when I came back down the hill, as I would be feeling a bit grim.  They agreed, and off I went up the hill. 

Well, at least that first uphill part was paved with concrete and good intentions, but so is the road to hell and a few hundred metres past the end of the concrete I started to feel like I had found the road to hell!  With the exception of probably 500m of the 2km run (the 250m either side of the turnaround), the rest of it was a nasty undulating shell covered trail run…yuck!  

I was really P’d off with this, I was thinking I could blow out 55 minutes but after a couple of minutes battling with the trail run, it became obvious that idea of a sub 55-minute tri effort was shot to hell.  My left outer ankle started to whine, and I was still recovering from tearing up the last 1km of the bike.  I had to slow down to a fast walk for most of it, running up the hills to try to loosen up my ankle. 

I got back to the top of the hill where the girls were waiting at the bottom, yahooing their little heads off for me.  That was awesome, I knew at that point there was only about 350m to go, and despite having come close to stopping on a park bench along that shelly trail, I was going to finish.

I passed the boat club and started to run hard.  There were two people behind me and I did not care one iota that they probably were not in my age group, I just did not want them to pass me. 

I ran around the last bend past the trees and sponsor marquees and across the finish line in 1hr 02mins and a bunch of seconds.  Job done! 

It was time for recovery food and it was off to the Hammer Nutrition tent for a pack of Recoverite.  Man, that stuff is nice!  I gulped that down followed by a banana, a choccie milk and a primo extreme.  I was starting to feel a little more human, so I went to see the girls at the Bodyneed physio tent for a massage. 

I was talking to the nice woman with the AccuIce stand and waiting for a free massage therapist when I spotten Ruben Wiki.  I raced back to the car to get my camera – I just had to get a photo with him, he is a total legend and such a nice person that it would have been rude not to do so.  Therefore, I did.  

We had a great chat about triathlons (it was his first and my fourth); training, PT work, and how awesome his mate was for doing his second ever tri and smashing 12 minutes off his time (wow!).  As an aside, I went out with his best mate from high school for a couple of years, and although that relationship was a total disaster, it was a good lesson to learn.  Those boys had David Tua in their crew at Otahuhu College as well, so hardly anyone messed with them at school.  LOL.

The massage was exactly what I physically needed, but it sure hurt like hell!  I had to plaster a smile on my dial through clenched teeth as the massage tent was out in the open and people were watching.  I think I would rather have another hour and a half worth of tattoo than a calf massage straight after a race, but it really is a good thing to do (actually, so is the tatt but more on that later).  I had no soreness and virtually no stiffness the next day. 

I changed out of my tri suit, put on my compression socks and my jacket, grabbed another latte and walked around for a bit.  I caught up with a mate, and we chatted while waiting for another mate to finish.  Mate number two had vicious quad cramps on the bike that did not let up into the run, so he had a crappy day.  There is a big lesson to learn from these cramps, which is to eat properly before your race (and that includes the day before), drink plenty of fluids and if you are going for more than 1-1.5 hrs, make sure you consume something during the event in addition to fluids, or you will end up as my mate did!

Homeward bound at last around 11am, I stopped off at the fruit shop near Whitford to get some apples, and then the gym to get a bit of coaching on some advanced exercises that I had to instruct my skills coach at Uni to do for my final practical assessment.  This was very helpful – the instructor is an awesome person and one I can trust to show me correct form and technique. 

After the exercise coaching session, it was post-race pizza time, probably the thing I look forward to most after crossing the finish line at a tri.  It is my one bit of major indulgence, so by the end of the season I will have finished seven triathlons and seven pizzas, ha!

I was a little too wired from caffeine gels to nap early in the afternoon, so I lazed around in bed and watched movies and Contact Tri TV instead.  About 6pm, I finally crashed out and got an hour’s nap in before starting to feel hungry again.  I had of course had my protein shake around 4pm, but I needed carbs and plenty of them.  I had a bowl of pasta, another hot shower and hit the pillow again around 8.30pm.  I love how exercise totally tuckers you out; I had a great night’s sleep and woke feeling very little stiffness. 

What did I learn from triathlon number four?  Here is the good, the bad and the ugly.

What went well?

• The swim, as I did the whole thing without stopping and with my face in the water and without resorting to backstroke.
• Most of the bike, although it got a little hinky in some places
• Nutrition
• Double-checking the alarm clock was set correctly
• Driving the bike course the day before (although it’s always different in a car to being on the bike)
• Having only one bag of stuff, this included post-race food and clothing.
• Scoring a fantastic parking spot
• Getting a massage afterwards
• Pre-race nerves settled down well before I got to the water, which was great.  I was actually pretty Zen’d out this time.
• Having my photo taken with Ruben Wiki. That made my day!
• Swim coaching the day before, it loosened up my arms.

  

What did not go so well?

• The run - jeepers creepers, that was a sh*tty run course! 
• The foot cramp in the swim – although it was minor and just enough to annoy me mildly, I must warm up my feet before I swim in future
• Forgetting the lip balm
• Running without a cap and dropping my ventolin in transition
• Taking an eternity to put on my bike gloves - I think they are too small.
• Getting off the bike and needing help to do so...again!

  

How can I make the next one better?

• Wear my gym gloves on the bike, as they are much easier to get on and off
• Buy new bike gloves, which I will need for winter anyway, but I think a nice pair of 2XU bike gloves would be great.
• Pack a lip balm in my saddle bag
• Wear my run cap – I have a nice 2XU one now so I have solved that problem.  I could even put it on under my helmet, providing it does not look stupid.  It would keep the sun out of my eyes better than the silly visor on my helmet does. 
• Dismounting the bike after a hard ride - I need more practice and I am still slightly scared of my cleats. Funny how I have no issues getting off the bike in my driveway, but that is probably because there are no people screaming at me to do so, hurry up, and get out of the way.  I still have this thing where I want a kerb to help me dismount when I am away from home.  I need to get over this quickly!
• More time on my bike.  I got my wind trainer last week, and need to stick my bike on it and ride.  I need to get a virtual cycling DVD to use to alleviate boredom on the trainer as I do not really want to watch movies while on the trainer (but I could create little games like climbing a pretend hill every time Tony the Yugoslav says his trademark word in The Wog Boy).  It could also help me past that truck episode from several weeks ago. 
• Only take a caffeine gel about an hour before the event, and not during it.  A normal one during it will be fine, so I can nap earlier in the afternoon.  I am not doing events that necessitate constant gel consumption, so a normal one just before the bike will kick in on the run and give me the boost I need to finish.

Onward and upward!

Ironman New Zealand 2010 - Iron Love Part II

I rolled out of bed about 8.30am on Sunday and after packing, checking out, leaving the hostel and dumping my backpack at the hire lockers at the Taupo Superloo (of all places!), I hit Fine Fettle for breakfast.  Best Latte in Taupo – and the buckwheat pancakes with blueberries and yogurt were heavenly.  Their pancakes were in fact so wonderful that I stopped at the bulk food store just down the road and grabbed a pack of Orgran apple and cinnamon buckwheat pancake mix to take home. 

I walked around a bit more, waiting for midday so that I could attend Jon Ackland’s first-timer Ironman presentation.  I found an awesome Balance Nutrition protein shaker at Rebel Sport, which has a little metal spring shaped like a ball in it, that acts as the mixer (for the record, it mixes perfectly).  I went and grabbed a quick bite to eat, then went back to the Great Lake theatre for the presentation. 

I watched in awe as the Kona qualifiers collected their T-shirt, Lei and congratulations from the qualification desk.  One day that could be me!  I want to do Kona by my 40^th birthday, which is just on seven years away – so there is plenty of time to achieve that goal.  I have to admit I was a teeny bit jealous, but that was soon replaced with the common sense knowledge that I have to actually do an Ironman first…walk before you can run, qualify before you can Kona, etc. 

Jon had his old training diaries for sale so after helping the girls from Performance Lab setup their EFTPOS machine I grabbed a copy.  They are as rare as hen’s teeth now, so I was not letting that gift horse get away.  I then realised I had no paper to take notes, so I shot over to Whitcoulls and bought a notebook with “anything is possible” on the cover.  For the uninitiated, that is the Ironman slogan, so it was very fitting for the occasion.  I also did not have a pen, so it was off to the Merchandise store for an Ironman NZ Pen. 

Jon’s presentation was fantastic.  I learnt many useful tips that I can apply in any triathlon, not just Ironman.  Many were also Ironman-specific, so they are now in my notebook to refer back to in 2011 while I am training for Ironman NZ 2012 (LOL).  Jon talked about legs, lungs and head.  I prefer “legs, lungs and lobes (as in brain lobes)”.  Ironman mostly about your legs, then about your lungs – but the most important factor is your mental game.  If you do not have your head right, you are going to fail. 

I think the “lobes” aspect applies to everything, not just to Ironman.  Your heart may be in it, but if your head is not, it will go pear-shaped.  If you know your legs will carry you the 226km, truly believe it, and can keep believing it the whole way, you are okay.  However, your brain needs to tell you constantly during those 226km that you CAN finish.  If you think you are in trouble, you are in trouble.  Crikey.

Jon also said that if you were sitting in the audience, you were going to do an Ironman.  Yep, busted.  I so want to do an Ironman.  I love triathlon as a sport, I love two of the three sports as individual sports (yes, if you guessed that I don’t love running as much as the other two then you would be correct!), I love the gear and the anticipation and the fun and the excitement and the feeling of finishing.  It is fantastic to be able to cross the finish line with a smile on your face, regardless of how long it took you to get there.  

The very act of finishing with an endorphin-induced smile is what drives me.  If I can do that at Taupo in 2012, that would be worth it.

Ironman New Zealand 2010 - Iron Love Part 1

I am back from Irontown NZ and had the most amazing weekend EVER. 

Okay, I will be completely honest here – there was one negative – so let us get that out of the way first.  My experience of Taupo was of it being a very expensive town eating-out wise.  Normally I can find at least a dozen places to eat at on a budget, but I was pushed to find four.  I am starting to hate travelling in-season. 

I also found avoiding my uncommon food intolerances and anaphylactic allergy virtually impossible in 96% of the cafes and restaurants.  I had huge problems finding stuff that I could eat.  I was not prepared to pay $30 for a main that was half deep-fried anyway, but everything was laden with onions and garlic (my intolerances) or smothered in raw tomatoes (my anaphylactic allergy).  Between the roast shop, Bodyfuel, Fine Fettle and the place that does the rotisserie chicken opposite Caltex, I covered off most of my nutritional needs.

Dozens of restaurants and cafes serving yet more deep-fried food complemented the evil quadrangle of BK, Maccas, KFC and Pizza Hut.  Seriously, not everyone wants to eat chips (fries) with every meal or have to call Greenpeace to come mop up the oil slick in their stomach after eating out. 

Yes, I was staying in a hostel with a kitchen.  However, I was on holiday.  Who wants to cook when they are on holiday?  Not me, that is for sure!  In hindsight, I should have.  I hate the lack of control stemming from placing my life in the hands (literally, with my tomato allergy) of strangers charged with preparing my meals. 

I could have been more organised and brought food down with me (more junk to carry, and carting said junk around town when you do not have a car there is a pain in so many places). 

Anyway, with that rant aside, the weekend was awesome!  After a six-hour bus trip with a half hour stop in Rotorua for a very quick and small lunch, I arrived in Taupo early Friday afternoon and dumped my bags before heading to Ironman central at the Domain.  I restrained myself at the expo, buying only a pair of Pearl Izumi socks and a Pearl Izumi race top.  I attempted to find some real lunch (FAIL), took some photos, found Pak N Save, bought a few bottles of water (plus milk, apples and yogurt) and headed back to the hostel. 

About 7pm, I was hungry again, so headed out to the rotisserie chicken place for dinner.  I had another walk around the shops, bought a pair of neoprene toe covers for my bike shoes from the temporary SwimT3 shop, and then headed back to the hostel for an early night.  I got back, took some photos of the sunset, got ready for bed and was about to turn off the light when a gigantic moth flew in the room.  Fifteen minutes later, the Chinese woman in my dorm and I had finally “encouraged” it to bug-ger off.  I went out like a light.

The alarm screamed at 5am and I got up, showered and dressed before scoffing down my protein shake.  I sat on the deck and admired the serenity…so much serenity.  I started walking down to the swim start and came across Stuart, Sean and Belinda at Bodyfuel.  Awesome!  Given that my Windows Phone was in hospital with all my contacts on it, I had no way of getting hold of the boys and was happy to find them on Tongariro Street.  Sean was remarkably composed and aside from a few flying dragons which I renamed dragonflies, was happy, smiling, joking and serene.  Yes, more serenity.  I would have been puking or freaking (and possibly both at the same time) by that point, so I was seriously in awe.  What a legend!

Sean suited up and we walked down to the swim start.   We left him and walked over to the fence to watch the pros starting the swim.  The starting cannons sure were loud, as was the sound of wetsuited arms powering through the remarkably calm water.  In what seemed like three minutes instead of fifteen, it was Sean’s turn.  Well, apart from my least favourite part of the swim start – the countdown beforehand that has previously made me freaked instead of focussed.  I hate it, and I am always like “just shut up until the *insert name of starting device* goes off!” 

The cannon blew us away again, and watching these remarkable people setting off for an epic journey of 226km was really quite overwhelming.  We watched for a while, and then walked over to T1 to sit on the mount line.  About 20 minutes later, Kieran Doe flew out of transition and took off on his bike.  My favourite Kiwi triathlete Terrenzo Bozzone was in hot pursuit, but sadly he earned a penalty for mounting his bike before the line.  I tried to figure out whom the penalty would have devastated more; Terrenzo, the two elderly Italian women down the chute, or me!

I could not believe I was about two feet from Kieran, Terrenzo, Jo Lawn, Kate Bevilaqua, Gina Crawford, Cameron Brown, Meshy Holt and James Bowstead.  It was just so cool, especially for someone like me who is still relatively new to triathlon and still has her training wheels on.  

Sean came through in about 1hr 10. He had a great swim, and I later learned his swim time was 1hr 1min and a few seconds. Fantastic work! Here is Sean heading off on his bike:

After Sean left on his bike, we had breakfast back at Bodyfuel, and then I headed off for a walk around the shops.  I broke my backpack at T1 and had to find a suitable replacement.  I went to every bag-selling store in Taupo before finding one that is just awesome and has the capacity of a TARDIS.  I stopped in at the Warehouse and spent my voucher (I love market research payments in the form of vouchers), buying a new pair of cooldry gym pants, a cooldry top and some cooldry socks.  I went back to the hostel, changed over my bags and set back out to see if I could find Sean returning from lap one of the 180km bike.

Just down the road from my hostel was part of the bike route.  I sat on a hay bale and waited.  About 15 minutes later, Sean came flying past.  Hooray!  I did not get a photo of him at that point but I did get to yahoo at him.  Big smiles all round!  Some annoyingly loud American chick was yelling “looking good, looking good” at EVERY SINGLE PERSON who rode past.  Let me tell you, I am all for supporting the triathletes but seriously, could you get some new material!  LOL!

I was starting to get thirsty so headed off for a coffee.  I was wandering around trying to decide which café’s coffee to try next when I ran into Geoff from work and his wife Sarah.  Surprise!  We had a quick chat then I headed off for my caffeine.  As those of you who know me can attest, I need my daily fix.  It is my one remaining vice after giving up booze, junk, refined carbs and chocolate for this triathlon madness.  As the saying goes, garbage in, garbage out!

After the coffee, I headed off for yet another walk around town.   I had about an hour to kill before Sean came back on lap two of the bike.  Whitcoulls had a nice selection of triathlon books, so I stopped in for a read.  It was pretty close to 2pm by now, so I hit the lakefront and found a nice spot on the roadside just up from T2.  I got to watch Kieran, Terrenzo, Jo, Gina, Kate, Cameron, Lucy with the togs, the Canada guy, a couple of Irish guys, a couple of Italian guys and the Brazil guy running past a couple of times. 

About 2.15 Sean came past on his bike, heading for T2.  I yahooed at him again, but don’t think he heard me.  I missed him on his first pass on the run (he had added a blue run top and that threw me) but snapped him on his way past out to Five Mile Bay on lap one.  Here’s the very blurry photo, I think it's quite art house:

I sat on the roadside for an hour or so and then had to eat.  I headed off and got a Subway and a banana, washed it down with a protein shake and topped it off with an apple and yogurt.  I decided it was getting pretty close to home time for the pros, so I walked over to the finish line.  On the way there, Cameron Brown ran past:

And so did Terrenzo

And Jo

I wanted a nap in the shade, in the hammock at the hostel, so I went back there for a while.  However, I was too wired to sleep, so I went back to the finish line and parked up in the grandstand.  It started to get cold about 5.30pm and after Sean ran past just after 7.45pm I headed back to the hostel to put on every piece of warm (or otherwise) clothing I had with me, and get some dinner.  I got back to the grandstand at 8.30pm and continued to freeze.  It just seemed to get more and more cold, the wind which had whipped up on the bike course made it even more cold and by 10pm I was desperate for a hot chocolate to keep my hands warm.  I stood in line for 20 minutes to get one and it was good…really good!

About ten minutes later, a nice young man named Alex sat next to me in the grandstand and asked me if I knew what was going on.  He had never seen an Ironman before and did not know what all the fuss was.  He was in Taupo visiting his whanau and had gone out for a walk because they were driving him nuts.  He heard the noise and the party at the finish line and decided to investigate. 

I spent the next half hour explaining the event, the distances, the rules, the preparation, the training involved, the time commitment, the fact that Ironman is a life-changing and all-consuming beast, and just how amazing the people were who were crossing the finish line.  Mike Reilly called a man home who was about 68 and was on Ironman 46.  The oldest competitor was 73 and he came through in a really great time (I think under 14 hours).  People who had lost 40kg, people with seven kids, lawyers, doctors, bankers, teachers…etc. 

There were people doing multiple laps of honour, high-fiving everyone in the crowd.  There were mums and dads being handed kids over the barriers and running down the chute with them.  There were old people, young people, big and small, tall and short, fast and slow, fit and really bloody fit, and everything in between.  Mike Reilly was whipping up the crowd into absolute frenzy and it was fantastic.  It was definitely the best party I have been to this year (actually, it was the only party I have been to this year!). 

Alex and I stayed in the grandstand until the last person crossed the line.  That amazing woman did it in 17 hours and just over 1 minute.  She did not get an official time, but she was still an Ironman.  I was in tears, and so was more than half the crowd.  She had being going since 7am, probably up since 4am, it was now after midnight, and she had completed Ironman NZ (I am tearing up just thinking about this again).  Alex went back to his family, but before he left he said I’ll see you on the finish line in 2012 and we’ll go have a drink to celebrate us both being “an Ironman”.  Wow. Talk about laying down a challenge!

With that in mind, I walked back to the hostel and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.  It was not a restful night though.  At 3.48am, a bunch of arrogant, annoying, drunk American boys having a fight rudely woke me and about 90% of those trying to sleep in Taupo.  I went downstairs, got in the middle of them, and in no uncertain terms told them to shut the hell up and go back to bed.  People were out on the balcony watching the fight, and they clapped and cheered when I told the yanks to shut up.  Go me, but it pays not to wake me up from a nice deep sleep unless you want an earful!