Round Rarotonga Road Race

So September and October have been a little quieter on the blog front, but there is good reason.  Mid-September saw St Pete and I head to Rarotonga for an extended break - a wedding (ours!) and the Round Rarotonga Road Race.

In line with the fact that our lives seem to revolve around being active, challenging ourselves and leading what we hope is a relatively healthy lifestyle, we picked our wedding date to fit in with the running of the 2010 Round Rarotonga Road Race.  This event has been going for over 30 years and is the main event of Rarotonga's Week of Running, a festival that includes a Hash House fun run, a Cross Island run, a relay and the race itself - a 31.5 km single lap around the island.

We had heard about the event from previous trips to Rarotonga and from Leigh and Paul who had travelled to the week of running a couple of years earlier and had returned positively raving about it.

This time around Leigh and Paul were coming over for the wedding, as was another running mate, Ang and her husband Willie.  Leigh, Paul, Pete and I therefore entered for the full 31.5 km event while Ang decided to do the 10 km option.

I'd have to say training for this event, for me, was slightly unorthodox this time around.  Because of my swim/bike/run training schedule I didn't have the run-focused buildup that I would normally have and so I was determined simply to get round the course and enjoy it as much as was possible (given the likely temperatures!).

Pete and I headed over to Rarotonga about 10 days prior to the event, and I'm so glad we did.  While our main reason for going over so early was to relax and get ready for the wedding, it also provided a great opportunity to acclimatise a little to the heat and humidity.  A couple of days after our arrival we went for a 5 km run and then a 15 km run as our final build up and boy was that hot!  It was so nice being able to walk into the lagoon at the end of those sessions and cool down, but I wasn't going to have that luxury on the day of the race.

Cooling off in the lagoon after our last 15 km training run
 

Race day arrived and at 5.00am we found ourselves down to the Punanga Nui Market waiting for the start.  The gun was due to go off at 5.30am and it was pitch black but still warm, probably mid 20s (celsius).  There were hugs and good wishes passed around our group and then we were away.

I started out the first 5 km nice and slowly - it was really humid and the heat was a bit sapping but I also knew I had a long way to go and the worst thing you can do is go out too fast.  Once we got around the end of the runway and had turned to head through Nikao towards Black Rock we got a bit of a sea breeze and I started to get into a good rhythm.  Which lasted about 3km...

At about the 8km mark my old running enemy made itself painfully known to me - my quads.  The blighters had seized up and that familiar feeling of having hot pokers jabbed into my muscles with every step was back again.  I had first experienced this just after the halfway mark in my first marathon and in the latter stages of my second marathon, but to have it happen so early on in this run was gutting to say the least.

While I nursed my legs through the next few kilometres I searched for a possible explanation, and quickly found it.  During the previous week I had hired a mountain bike so I could do some laps of the island, to maintain some sort of training.  Of course the mountain bikes had standard pedals rather than the toe clips or clipless pedals I have on the road bike.  As a result pedalling becomes a pushing action rather than a circular action and the pushing action requires force from your quads rather than the circular motion which is more balanced.

I had done about 4 1/2 hours of biking around the island and they hadn't been leisurely rides either!  As a result my quads had gotten loaded up and so by the time I got a wee way into the run they made their displeasure well and truly known!

The run, then, became a fantastic experience in the art of mind over matter and an excellent opportunity to live the grit and determination that is going to be needed to get to the ironman finish line.  My legs would be screaming at me and so I would alternate walking and running.  I was able to concentrate on managing my nutrition intake, taking a Gu sachet at every alternate drink station.  And I was able to practice the self talk that is needed when all you want to do is stop and, in this location, jump in the lagoon!

By the time I got to the last kilometre it was stinking hot but I didn't care.  I knew I was almost there and the pain was irrelevant.  I jogged into the market to the sound of the drummers and practised my ironman finish as I crossed the line.  Not that it was an act - I have never been so pleased to see the end of a run!

My finish time wasn't so bad - 4 hours 13 minutes.  It was around my marathon pace so, while I had hoped to go better, it certainly wasn't a disaster compared to previous events and I've taken away some great experience from it. And despite the challenges I look back on the event and remember it as one I definitely want to go back and do again.

I think Pete and I will be adding it to our calendar of annual events!!

The Christchurch Team - Leigh, Paul, Ang, Pete, Toni