IMNZ 2010

189101113

Comments

  • Fantastic guys - well done everyone.

    I thought I had the nightmare swim last year but looks like Ego had a worse one.........

  • great efforts all round,   well done pirates.
  • Egoman - sounds horrendous to me but pretty normal for the competetive end of open water IM swims I believe.

  • i understand that its normal.... i just need to make sure i am in better shape so i dont get run down next time.
  • "next time".... muhahahaha....

  • well done all, sounds like a hard day at the office, esp. for SP with being ill.

    Being swum over happened to me a few times in my early days, before I learned to start towards the back or the side, not being a strong swimmer  I stay right out of the way now and just concentrate on completing the course without getting knackered! 

  • good work guys!

    it reminds me of IMCH 05 when we rather mischievously persuaded big dave that the best position for him to start the swim was at the front, he spent the first 30 seconds of the race genuinely believing he was going to drown. made me laugh!

  • Race report - brace yourselves, its an epic!

    One of the questions that I’ve most often been asked over the last year is “Why do you want to do an Ironman?” and it’s one that I’ve found incredibly hard to answer. Some kind of nagging little bug got into my head and refused to be quiet, buzzing in my ear “I wonder what doing ironman is like? I wonder what the training’s like? Wouldn’t it be cool to find out?”

    Rather unusually, I took a bit of a sensible approach towards finding out. This is a contrast to my first proper sporting challenge, when I decided to run a marathon, refusing to be troubled by such minor details as breaking my arm three months before and having to do most of my training sporting a large cast.

    I decided to enter a sprint triathlon (Edinburgh New Year’s Day tri), trained aimlessly, bellyached endlessly about it, and ended up really enjoying it, despite the rather alarming sensation of running barefoot across a carpark wearing a wet swimsuit in Scotland in mid winter. It’s certainly a bracing experience.

    Bouyed with the resounding success of not falling off my borrowed road bike and not coming last, I decided to get some coaching, buy a proper bike and join a club. All very sensible.

    A couple of half-IM distance events helped me to hone my crap skills, with A Day In The Lakes in particular providing a valuable lesson in the fun of advanced dehydration and the exciting effects it can have on your body.

    The lead up and training to my IM can best be described as “challenging”. I tried to work on my speed and attempted a PB at Cardiff ½ Marathon in October, only to suffer from chest pains all the way round the course, without it ever occurring to me to stop. I got the PB, but not the one I wanted, and sulked for weeks. Luckily, it wasn’t a heart attack, but only the first in a series of colds that meant my training through November and December was two steps forward and one step back. Every time I tried to increase the volume, I would get sick again. VERY frustrating.

    However, I wasn’t daunted. The flights were booked and paid for, the entry was paid for, everyone I’ve ever met (and quite a few who I hadn’t) had had to endure my endless IronBore chat ,so there was no backing out.

    Then, when I was finally over my colds and doing some proper training, a week before I was due to leave for NZ, my house burned down. By some enormous stroke of fortune, more or less all of my kit survived, including bike, cycling shoes, wetsuit, favourite shorts and best goggles. It’s fair to say that my motivation took a big knock though, and what should have been my biggest week of training just didn’t happen at all. Still, life goes on, and we found another flat to live in, and I assembled what was left of my belongings to pack for NZ.

    So, I got to NZ and realised that despite it all, I was really ready to race.

  • RACE DAY

    4.00am and the alarm went off. It was here! Chris & I got up and I worked down my checklist -I have to have one as I am so gormless before and during races I have to write it all down to the level of “have shower” and “get dressed” or I’ll end up leaving the house in my underpants or something.

    We set off up to the start area, and I dropped off my special needs bag (2 cheese sarnies & a bag of salt & vinegar crisps, to prevent cramp obviously). Binky was racked and waiting to go so I pumped his tyres, put a couple of gels in the bento box and popped his bottles on. I couldn’t think of anything else to do, so I wandered round transition then came across SP who was necking rescue remedy and fussing over Uncle Bob (his bike).

    We’d gone there far too early, so there was a fair amount of hanging around winding ourselves up to do. Ego was wandering around too, but lost him when he went off to body marking.

    I decided that I wanted to go to the swim start, so struck off on my own. I found what I thought was a quiet corner to perform the exercise in sausage-stuffing that is me getting into a wetsuit. I had managed to lever it up to my crotch when an army van came screeching to a halt in front of me, illuminating my quivering white body with full beam headlights while half  a dozen squaddies leapt out carrying a cannon. I tutted and carried on squishing my flab into the reluctant neoprene. I had managed to get my shoulders in, when I suddenly realised that 20 semi clad and war-painted Maori were running down the path towards me so I gave up trying to get any privacy and went to watch them do their haka.



  • The pros were already in the water, so I went over the timing mat and sat on the beach to watch their start. When the cannon for their start went off, I got such a fright I managed to go from sitting cross legged to standing in one smooth motion - didn’t help the nerves any. SP found me and we decided to get in the water. The most amazing thing happened when I got in the water - all my nerves disappeared. SP looked green and wanted to stay at the back, so I wished him luck and swam off to get into the thick of the aqua ruck, pausing briefly to -ahem- warm my wetsuit up. The lake was like a mill pond, absolute flat calm, a real contrast to the swell that had been on it all week.

    BANG!

    I nearly filled my goggles up from the inside as I cried for the first hundred metres, I was just SO happy to be there. Then I concentrated on getting into my rhythm and found a pair of feet to draft off. My swim tactic was “stay out of trouble and keep it steady” and that’s just what I did. There was a bit of jostling, but all just part of the fun. I was annoyed by one guy who kept zig zagging across me, so I had to put on a burst to leave him behind. The turnaround came pretty quickly, and there was a diver sitting on the bottom, so I waved frantically at him. I kept my steady pace, and was honestly disappointed when I sighted the last bouy and knew the swim was over - I had enjoyed it so much I could have stayed there all day.

    Swim: 1:10:58. Fresh as a daisy. Could have pushed harder to be honest.

    There was a 400 metre run (uphill!!) to transition, lots of people shouting and cheering, which made me want to run rather than the energy-saving amble I had planned. Got to T1 and a lovely older lady helped my out of my wetsuit and swimsuit and got me into my cycling stuff - I’d decided on a full change for each discipline as I was only aiming to complete and didn’t have a time goal (…or did I?…)

    T1: 12:53 (includes run up hill, and a nice sit down)
  • T1: 12:53 (includes run up hill, and a nice sit down)

    Swooped round the streets of Taupo on the first lap, the whole town really does get behind it, it was like the tour de france. I had a little cry of happiness again. There’s a biggish hill coming out of town though, which made me knuckle down and stop blubbing. I split the bike up into sections - it’s a two lap course which made this easy to do. First goal: Get out to Reporoa and get my orange scrunchy. I was feeling very comfortable on the bike, although the first bit out of the water is always a bit depressing as I get overtaken a lot by all the  crap swimmers ;o) I steeled myself not to race them, but to stick to my own pace. Soon enough, we were at Reporoa, and I gained my first scrunchy. It was only when we turned around that I realised how much of a problem the wind was going to be - there was a relentless gusty headwind all the way back to town. Still, I was well hydrated (had to stop a couple of times for a wee) and well nourished, so I got my head down and focused on completing the first lap, and seeing my supporters. Minor diversion as the leaders with their entourage of helicopters, bikes etc streaked past me going for their second lap. Back to town, and the streets were still lined with people clapping and cheering. I picked up my special needs bag and horsed down my sandwiches which were just the ticket. The crisps were a bit of a challenge to get out of the bag and eat, but I managed to get a fair few of them down.

    Second lap. Harder, but I was still feeling comfortable. I was doing an “inventory” every half hour or so, just mentally running up and down my body and assessing any aches or problems. Everything was still fine, other than having burning on my feet where my cleats were, so I took some ibuprofen and that helped. I couldn’t believe how good I was still feeling - my longest ride in training was about 125K and that was done dead slow. Next goal: Green scrunchy at the turnaround at Reporoa. The wind wasn’t as bad on this section, and the hills weren’t troubling me either, so I just carried on at my steady pace, sometimes overtaking, sometimes being overtaken. Got my green scrunchy and set for home again.

    The wind had really whipped up now, and between 160 and 170k I had quite a low moment, just grinding slowly up this never ending hill with the wind trying to blow me back down it again. My undercarriage had really started to suffer and I couldn’t find a comfortable position on the saddle so I started shouting and swearing at the wind and wriggling around on the bike trying to get comfortable. I kept mentally saying “tough times don’t last, tough people do” and the like to keep my motivation going.

    Finally, we got to 170K and it was downhill back into town and T2.

    Bike: 7:32:55. Still feeling really good!

  • Wobbled into transition and changed into running kit, lubed up my feet and stumbled off for a run.

    T2 6:54 (including chatting and necking a bottle of 4:1)

    I saw my supporters again as I came out of T2 and said “I thought I might go for a wee run now, what do you think?” and they laughed so I set off.

    My tactic for the run was the same as for the bike, just to mentally break it down into sections and tackle each section one at a time. Like the bike it was an out and back course done twice. I set my mind on getting my first scrunchy at the turnaround. I couldn’t believe how good I was still feeling - I had expected to have to run/walk from the start, but I was having no trouble maintaining a steady run, so I quickly revised my tactic to “walk the hills and the aid stations”. I switched from gels and bananas to coke and water as my stomach had started to protest against the gels.

    I got to the turnaround fairly quickly and set off back to town, still astonished by how strongly I was going. I’d worked out that I was doing each 10K in about 1h 8 - 1h 10. I tried to keep a lid on my excitement as I still thought it could all go wrong, but by now I was pretty certain that I was not just going to complete it, but in a far far better time than I had thought possible.
    I trundled on back to town, stopping for a wee occasionally, pleased that I was staying hydrated and secretly wishing I wasn’t as the smell in the portaloos was atrocious and I could frankly have done without visiting them too often.

    I got my next scrunchy and set off again on the long road out. While I was still cheerful, the day had started to take its toll, and the biggest problem I had was that my contact lenses had misted over to the extent that I could barely see where I was going, and as it started to get dark, that turned into more of an issue. By the time I got to the turnaround, they were handing out glow sticks, but by this stage I could really have used searchlights and a guide dog to keep me on course. Still, I lurched relentlessly on, refusing to walk and frantically trying to work out when I would finish. For a few brief minutes my woeful maths made me think I might go sub 14, however, I don’t think this was ever really on the cards.

    I saw ego a couple of times on the run, he looked like he was really suffering, and could barely summon up the energy to high-five me. I didn’t see SP at all, but as it turned out this was because the slacker was spending most of the race sitting in the portaloos.

    I got closer and closer to the finish, and could hear the loudspeaker and the cheers and finally allowed myself to think about crossing the line. When I got to the chute, I checked over my shoulder and saw there was someone behind me, so I summoned up every last ounce of energy and produced from somewhere a sprint finish to the line, waving my arms like Mr Tickle and screaming my head off. It was AWESOME, I couldn’t believe the atmosphere.

    Stumbled over the line, fell into the arms of some volunteers who hung the medal round my neck and winched me onto the scales. I’d lost a whopping 400 grams so they released me.

    I was an ironman image

    Overall time: 14:16:18

    Injuries: impressive blister on foot, chafing from bra zip, sun/windburn on legs and nose.  Large hangover after spending most of Sunday in the pub with SP & TL (special guest visit from Ego when we threatened him with having to walk the plank if he wussed out).

  • i have to redo my race report .... i wrote it on the flight between aukland to sydney ...but someone stole my computer on the airplane during the transit between sydney and dubai.

    PUP said:  "large hangover after spending most of sunday in the pub..." 

    PUP, Chirs, SP and TL spent the ENTIRE day and evening at the pub, from 13:00 - 22:00 non stop ..... then PUP texted me at 7am the next morning.  I still dont understand how she and chris could have been up and going with such energy after a full day drinking???  a true professional.

    PUP/SP i will email you the pictures today.

  • someone stole your computer?? OMG, that's terrible! Did you have a back up of stuff you had on it?

    I get up at 7 whether I've been drinking or not, so I don't have a lot of late nights image we wobbled off to get some food at about 8.30 I think. Maybe it was later! 

    forgot to say earlier, but orsum, piratey swim from you ego, really impressive! 

  • Great race report PUP, you now know you can push harder in your next one!

  • K9K9 ✭✭✭

    Great report PUP.

    I am truly amazed you were only 400g lighter at the end - perfect hydration!!! How much hydration etc did you manage to take on board? It's something I struggle withimage

  • K9 wrote (see)

    Great report PUP.

    I am truly amazed you were only 400g lighter at the end - perfect hydration!!! How much hydration etc did you manage to take on board? It's something I struggle withimage


    Isn't it hard to take on fluid when swimming endless lengths K9?

  • Ace report PUP.  That burning feeling in your feet is really horrible isn't it?  Make it tougher just when you don't need it.

    image Nasty little airport tealeaves.  Hope the airline are being helpful Ego; thought planes were supposed to be 'secure' during transit.

  • Well done Pirates, sounds like a tough day all round between the wind and dodgy pasta.
  • SP and PUP did you get the photos i emailed?  it bounced back twice before i had the photos resized.

  • Good report! But you forgot to put in goals for Nice "Learn how to drink properly so that I can keep up with the post-race party"    image
  • K9K9 ✭✭✭
    Love your report Egoman - well done againimage
  • CAKE PIMP your comment made me laugh out loud ....

    no matter how much training i do there is no way I can compete or keep up with SP at the pub.  no way.  he and PUP are true professionals

  • lol, good point - I've seen SP drink.... image

    What you really need though, is Barley trying to initiate you into 'Whisky Club' the night after an IM.... have to confess I bailed out on this - relatively pedestrian amounts of cider, and gin & tonic were all I could manage!

  • That was an epic drinking session - though I should point out that PUP had already drained a pint when me and TL turned up!! Respect!

    The race report is on its way, was hoping to have it finished this evening, but I have few more words to add and jet lag is catching up with me (we arrived home yesterday evening, which felt like Sunday, glad it wasn't Monday, but it was really Saturday... it was a loooonnnng flight).

  • <drums fingers on table> we're waaaaaaiting! image

    That first pint may have been the tastiest I have ever had in my life. The next ?6? weren't too shabby either. Respect to you guys that you kept going after Chris & I had wobbled off for food! 

  • Hi PUP & Ego - in work now and would really like to go back home to bed.

    I see you're doing Nice and Western Australia Ego, you not had enough yetimage

    PUP you entered Outlaw yetimage 

Sign In or Register to comment.