A Day of Distractions

On my ironman journey, Saturdays have now become simulation days.

They are the days when my training session consists of a swim, followed by a bike, followed by a run.  (Just like the real thing, but shorter!) And now that summer is officially here the swim is happening in the open water, either in the lake at Pegasus or in Corsair Bay, over the hill in Lyttelton.

Last Saturday's session was no different.  I was tasked with a 40 minute swim, 2 1/2 hour bike and a 30 minute run.  Andi, training for the Lake Wanaka Half,  had a similar program although a shorter bike and so we decided to do the swim and bike together.  The plan was to drive out to Corsair Bay with the bikes, do the swim and then bike from there home where I could then do my run around Hagley Park.

Pegasus would have been great but thanks to the power of Facebook I had found out that there would be waka sprints out there that morning and, while they weren't starting their races until 9.00am, likely preparatory work in the lake (i.e. setting up lanes etc) could have made swimming a bit of a pain.  So Corsair Bay it was.

It was an early start.  While Pegasus was out, there was also the distraction at Corsair Bay with the annual Harbour Ride, one of Christchurch's premier road cycling events.  The route for the ride would go past Corsair Bay and up over Evans Pass to Lyttelton, exactly the route we were planning to follow after our swim.  We therefore wanted to be well out of the way before we got mown down by elite riders such as Hayden Roulston!

We therefore pulled up at Andi's place just after 7.00am, loaded her and her bike, and by 7.30 we were pulling wetsuits on at the water's edge at Corsair Bay.  It was a gorgeous day and there were already a few swimmers out in the bay doing laps around the boats.  Coach Dave was already there and had done his first lap by the time we got in.  He decided to do another one with us and so off we went.

Google Earth view of Corsair Bay with a typical swim circuit marked in yellow - approx 1km

Swimming conditions were great, although it did get a little lumpy once we were out by the yachts and out of the shelter of the bay.  We got our first lap done, though, and Dave headed off to his next fitness session of the day leaving us to do another lap.  I had a much better time with sighting and we set up a good routine - figuring out our next landmark (or yacht), swimming to it then stopping and refocusing on the next point.

We got out after about 55 minutes and had done about 2 km of swimming, so a good effort.  It was then out of the wetsuits and up to the car to get the bikes ready for a ride.  Drinks and food loaded, I started walking the bike onto the tarseal to start riding and suddenly realised I was still wearing my Nothinz.  They are so comfy I'd forgotten I was wearing them but it's a bit like walking out the door of your house in your snuggly pyjamas.  ...and tricky to clip into the bike pedals!

My orange Nothinz - ugly as, but SOOO comfy!

Senior moment sorted, we headed away.  It was a slight downhill into Lyttelton but once we passed the main centre of town we started a steady climb up to Evans Pass.  It's not a steep climb so I quite enjoyed taking it slowly and (almost!) having time to enjoy the scenery.  Andi went off ahead (because virtually everyone is still faster than me on an upward slope!) but waited at the top of the pass and it was at this point I stopped as well.

We were conscious of the elite riders coming through in the race and there was a decent group of spectators and photographers stopped at the top of Evans Pass waiting to see them come through.  We waited for a few minutes trying to work out if we had enough time to carry on, and not get run over, and eventually decided we may as well have a shot at getting down the hill first.

So we headed down and got through Sumner and Redcliffs and to the end of the causeway.  At the end of the causeway the race would make a hard left turn for the final kilometre to the finish line.  Being enthusiastic cyclists it was only right that we allow ourselves this little distraction and see the leading riders come around.  So we stopped there and a couple of minutes later the leading riders started coming through.  It was great to watch and we ended up waiting until the first of the elite women came in as well - fantastic stuff.

It wasn't to be our only distraction, though.

We carried on around to Brighton and rode along Marine Parade, only to find the road closed up ahead.  The suburban Santa Parade was on and so the road was blocked with sugar-enriched children and their frazzled parents.  Thankfully Santa had just gone past by the time we got there and so we were able to slowly make our way through the crowds as they dispersed back to their cars.

Just goes to show that a bike ride never has to be an ordinary thing.