IM Age Group award

2009 25th ani IRONMAN New Zealand AG award. Very cool. Yes it's glass...

Ironman Training...

The graphs below show training for the 10 weeks leading up to Ironman NZ. This was not ideal as it could have been. I am not upset about this or anything like that. Sam was born on the 22nd of Jan so in the weeks leading up to that date and afterwords the amount of training was somewhat reduced.

Still an average of 13h30m was reasonable and I am quite pleased with this volume...

Week 1 was a smallish taper for the Taranga Half Ironman as I consider this as an A race. Then week 2 was the week of the race.  The next two weeks were building up to Sam's birth and her birth. So they were lower average volumes that what would have been ideal. On the plus side I had two weeks off work, so I was able to slip in a few sessions when otherwise it might have been impossible.

The swimming is not really too bad. An average swim distance of just under 3Km and about 3 swims per week. I was happy with my swim time at IMNZ too. To me the only thing missing was perhaps some squad training for faster sets and maybe one swim per week to up the volume a bit.

If you go back further in my training log you will see lots of bigger rides all the way back to September 2008. So I did have some really good volume as a base. I was also doing a lot of club Thursday races so was happy with my speed and intesity.

I did a very good time at IMNZ (5h3m) so was happy with that... But (there's always a but) I think I did need a few more long rides. As you can see above there was a big gap in weeks 3-4 and weeks 8-9. There really needed to be 2-4 more rides over 5 hrs (150Km). Just was not really the time though. Being away from Iz and Sam would have not been the best option. I therefore settled for 3hr rides (about 100km).

The running was a different story. This is possibly the area where lots of running even if shorter distances would still make a difference. The problem thought was that I did not feel I could risk running lots. Sometimes I felt I needed two days break between runs to make sure I did not break down... Only 2 runs at about 30Km plus was not enough... Missed a long run the week before completely for the hope that the legs came right... The weeks before Xmas were not much better. The weeks 3-7 were quite good though if slightly light on the volume... I also Lacked any kind of speed work.

Still after the bike a 3h17m run was OK. I was hoping for about 10mins quicker than that.

A Fantastic day

I have had my best result at Ironman New Zealand! What more can you say... very pleased.

The day started at 4:50 so not too early...a reasonable sleep. Sam had been a pain for the last couple of days and I was really worried she was going to stay awake all night! Thankfully it was not too bad. Got about 5 hours sleep. Sam had just woken anyway so Iz was getting up... too.

I had a reasonable breakfast of muesli and tea... and got all the bottles and the bike special needs stuff together and off we went...

Left the house at 5:45. A little ops on the way. The guy behind us was not paying attention and hit us from behind. Bugger. Not too much damage though. A short delay and we were back on our way!

Thankfully there were no more dramas and I got the bike sorted and headed down to the swim start.

Got my wetsuit on and into the water by 6:50. Not as soon as I wanted but I was still quite relaxed. I swam out to the far right and found Liz and Maddog so decided that this was a good place to be. Had a look around to see where Tony was but could not see him. I figured he must have been right up close to that right start buoy.

Swim:

The Gun went a little early than I expected but got going OK. Funny thing about an IM, there really is not that much in the way of a rush off the start line than compared to other races. Of course it helped that the pros were not with us. I did put in a bit of an effort to start with and tried to find some feet to swim off. But I was hardly going for it! Got some but they were rather nasty! The guy was kicking all over the place and zigzagging all over too. For the next 10mins I was fighting to get away from this guy. Very frustrating! He seemed to keep covering me! I just could not get around him... Finally someone else comes up beside me and I jumped onto his feet. The rest of the swim was pretty uneventful and actually went very quickly. The only thing was I did struggle with the drafting a quite a bit... it seemed that the guys I was drafting off really did now swim all that straight. With about a Km to go I decided to up the pace a bit and went my own way... I did pull away a bit and caught up a group. Just at the finish I caught Hamish (although I did not know it until the after race photo :)

Just under 58'. That's a best by about half a minute. Certainly a good way to start the day!

T1

My transitions are sometimes great and well sometimes a bit of a goon show! I ran quite steady up to the transition area and into the tent. Got help getting the wetsuit off but he could not pull it off my feet! He dragged me across the ground! Can you believe that? Anyway he stopped and I had to work it off each foot by hand. Crazy stuff. I had socks in my bike shoes and the socks were nicely folded to get on quicker. One of the helps unfolded them Doh! Put on a gillet, rolled up arm warmers and put some salt tablets into back pocket and took off for the bike. Got to the bike OK and out. Getting on the bike was a complete disaster! I knew that wearing shoes from transition was a risk. Both cleats got gummed up with mud and I had to clean them before I could click in. The problem is I did not find this out until after the first attempt at mounting my bike, so I nearly came off! Doh! (again). Oh well, no damage... yet. After that I felt that things might go my way!

Bike

Once on the bike and up to speed I unrolled arm warmers and started drinking and eating a bar. Feeling pretty good about the day. It's always fun going out of town for the first time a bot of a buzz. Very easy to get a bit too excited...

There was a bit of wind and rain about but really was not too bad... Once I got up to the race track upped the pace a bit and started to catch a few people... Did have a little ops at about 55Km/h when I just checked to make sure my bottle was not coming out... went over a small bump and the rear wheel flicked out a bit! That scared me, jeepers I really did not wanna come off at that speed... Got into a good group but it was growing fast. Getting really worried about being busted. I did a Tony trick and let myself drift off the back a bit... Spotted Cream Puff about half way out, just had enough time to say Hi! No chance for a quick Chat or something else.... Tony.

Spotted Tony heading back... looked like in the front group looking good. Another 3m plus to the turn, so he was at least 5m up the road. At the turn around, went around very gingerly... felt very slippery... I did not lean the bike at all. Very big group now. I must have been on the back of a 50 rider bunch. Did look very cool seeing them all lined up in front of me...

I made a bit of a blunder here though... I stayed just where I was happy that things were going along nicely, but as we started going up I was not paying enough attention to the front of the group. Dam it, someone about 10 riders up let a gap form and no one went 'round him. By the time I realised what had happened the gap was nearly 200m. Doh! (not again)... I rode to the front of this group and carried on but, by the time we got down through town and back up private road and onto Broadlands again there was not sign of anyone.. Oh well. Time to settle in and eat some more. I did put in a bit of an effort on the climbs to see if I could bring that group back, but not to be.

Start of the second lap

I rode the next 20Km on my own so that made about 30Km alone. Possibly a tactical error on my part here. Halfway out I finally got caught by another smaller group. I decided to sit in again and rest a bit...

Saw Tony again just before the turn around. A little sooner this time so he was going well. Maybe 2m30s this time I thought.

When we hit the bridge I decided to go again. I was looking at the watch thinking sub 5hours might be on the cards, so put in a bit of effort here. Two of us worked together quite well. Dropped him as we were coming up to the race track... 5 hrs ticked over as I was coming down Spa Road. Oh well it was close. Just under 5:03 so a good ride ! A personal best so all good and feeling great. Not even my back was very sore.

T2

Into transition no errors and got the socks and shoes on quick plus arm coolers rolled up. Hey I was hopeful that it might get warm :) The lady helping me unfolded my socks too, this slowed down me putting on my socks. Dam that was 0 for 2. Anyway it was a very good T2 for me.. Then off up the ramp and out for the run.

Run

Saw Lynley on the corner of the bridge doing race commentary. She said hi! Coming down the other side was a great lift. Running quite fast at the bottom. Felt pretty good and set a good pace. Hr was about 143 so was a tad higher than '04, but I could live with it. The emotions really run high as you go through town... so many people cheering and calling out you name (it helps it is on your race number) it almost feels like everyone knows you. Of course very easy to get carried away with this.

Heading out for the first lap...

I saw Tony at about the 8Km mark. He was feeling it from being sick most of the week. Still looked in good spirits. I was happy but feeling cautious about the second lap.

I had a great first lap and kept the pace constant. I was taking lots of water with some salt tablets and a GU every 30mins. Espresso Love ones with double caffeine... very nice.

I got caught just before half way by this pro woman, she was running really well. We stayed together for a few Kms but she then took off! Not for me...

The start of the second lap I still felt OK and carried on if at a slightly slower pace. The idea was at 9Km to go if there was still something there to up the pace then. That's at the top of airport hill.

When I finally got there, there was no upping the pace going on... The pace had dropped a bit and I was really just hanging on. The quads and groin region was rather tight!

The last 6Km was a struggle and I was getting past quite a bit. I was looking for E's on peoples' calves. I did not see any. I was playing mind games with myself. Get to the next aid station. Have a good drink of coke and some water on the legs then get going again. This got me through and I was able to keep running reasonably well. It was great to get to the waterfront. The closer you get the faster you go and I did start to wind it up a bit.

Brodie went past me just at the Supaloos. Bugger I thought I had him. Anyway I had a look and no one else was going to go past now.

Down the shoot and had another quick look. And another. Nope no one there... now enjoy it!

9:24 10 min quicker than '04. Very pleased.

Ironman Gear list...

The big day is at hand...

Thursday

• Check wheels OK,
  
• Tape up the container to hold spares.
• Bike check
• Register.

Friday

• Rack bike and cover it so does not get too wet.
• Aero bottle on bike.
• Fill drink bottles (5) night before.

Pre race

• Breakfast - simple toasted muesli, Tea.
• Get bike together, tyres pumped up, Put fluid into front aero bottle,
• Other two drinks on.
• Put spares and leavers in back holder properly so they do not come out. TAPE IT.

Pre swim bag

• sun tan lotion,
• wetsuit
• body glide,
  
• Goggles x 2
• Gear to change into
• race belt
• 2XU top tri shorts
• shoes
• pump
• swim caps x 2

T1 Bag 

• Bike shoes with toe booties
• socks
• helmet
• salt tablets
• poly pro
• arm warmers
• arm coolers
• Food?

Special Needs Bike 

• Two bottles
• some other food nice....

T2 Bag

•  4 GU gels.
• Running shoes with socks and Vaseline
• Cap
• Glasses

Special Needs Run

• Chips
• other nice?