Well
it had been a big lead up to this day.
On reflection it had taken the previous
four races, lots of meals being cooked, lots of waking up a tired Irongirl from
her power naps on the couch and, when necessary, kicking her out the door for
another training session, either to the pool, the wind trainer in the garage,
or for a run when it was wet, cold or just too hot.
The
previous weekend I had taken a trip over the ditch to Christchurch and run a PB
marathon, and on the Friday before irongirl's race I had paced our friend Mel (who was working at T2 on race day) over a 5k fun run. Although I don't think
that it was much of a fun run for Mel as she had told me her target time was 32
minutes and we made it in 31:10. In my typical running style I had set the
ground rules of what is said on the run stays on the run, but I'm sure that
over the last 2km Mel must have hated me.
Yes
we smashed the target time and I smashed Mel along the way - I don't think that
my attitude of being ready to go for another 5km impressed her, or the fact
that after finishing Mel shared her breakfast with the grassed area just after
the finish line!!!
But
back to race day.
Sunday dawned fine, after a bit of overnight rain, after all
it is the tropics, and Toni's biggest worry was that Black Beauty would be
wet!!!
Now
a seasoned pro at these ironman races, Toni was focused and after breakfast,
put on her iPod and started to dance around the room for a few minutes. I
frowned at this as it was unnecessary energy best reserved for the race.
At
about 6am we headed over to transition to check the bike and add hydration to
Black Beauty before soaking in the start area atmosphere. After I did a quick
dash back to the hotel, which was all of 2 minutes away, to drop off the bike
pump, I then walked Toni to the start area, before watching her head off
down the pier to the start of the swim leg.
On
heading back to the viewing area, I smiled to myself as other ironman athletes
were rushing to the start area and, after hearing later reports that some were
still entering the water as the gun had gone off, I wasn't surprised.
What
is unique to Cairns is that they have the 70.3 on the same day as the full
ironman. Some of these athletes therefore started more than 45 minutes ahead of the the
full ironman start time and Transition 1 was soon a hive of activity, even before
Irongirl actually started her race.
I
positioned myself opposite the first drinks station of the day, just before the
athletes enter transition.
At 7.55am Irongirl was underway and the waiting began. I had signed up for the text alerts which were working well, so I knew when
Toni had exited the water some 500 metres further up the course. The split time
was 1:33 so I knew someone would be happy and, less than a minute later, there
she was, focused but I got the thumbs up, so I knew all was good.
A
quick dash around the transition tent and I again saw Irongirl head across to
the bike, then another 500 metre sprint to see her head out on the bike course. A quick calculation and I knew what time Irongirl would have to be at T2 to
make her aim of a sub 6 hour bike split.
As
Cairns is an out and back bike course, with a good majority of the roads closed,
my next opportunity to see Toni was going to be at T2 so it wasn't long before
I was driving out to the transition area with Leigh who, with her husband Paul, was doing the 70.3 as a team.
It
took over an hour to get to the transition area, but as Leigh was doing the
21.1km run leg of the 70.3 we were in plenty of time, and I was then busy getting
the text bike splits and relaying them to Facebook as well as texting a group
of people, on the events of the day.
I
briefly caught up with Mel at T2 and then headed off to find a position to
see the cyclists arrive. From my previous trip to Cairns I knew where the
best spots would be and I saw most of the pros arrive, and some of the age
groupers. Just after 3:30pm a black bike with a rider dressed in green came into view, the white
bike shoes confirmed my suspicions, and I knew then that the main goal of a sub
6 hour bike split had been achieved. Some 6 minutes later I saw Irongirl exit transition and, I didn't know it at the
time, but Toni didn't know what her bike split was. I again caught up with Mel
and got Toni's bike bag from transition and met up with Leigh and Paul again as
they had finished their team event and had driven back out.
We all then headed out on the run course and set up camp at a spot just after the 12km mark. I got a text alert telling me that Irongirl had passed 10km in the
marathon, so it wasn't too long before the green machine came into view. I walked
up the course and gave her a greeting, to which Toni asked if I knew what her bike split
was. I said 5:57 (officially it was 5:57:30) to which I got the response
"really?" Having confirmed it again, I'm pretty sure I saw a little
dance and both arms being raised in the air in celebration as Irongirl ran on.
But that was quickly put in check as there was still the little matter of
running another 30km.
 |
| Team Irongirl roadside. |
Now
let's remember people that this was irongirl's B race. The whole aim of the day
was to smash the bike and, if necessary, walk the marathon. Afterall Toni had
taken about an hour off her previous best time at her A race in Taupo, finishing in 14:08.
Although it should be noted that less than a week after Taupo, when I had
analyzed the race data, I did mention that a sub 14 hour race was possible. At the time I
remember Irongirl screwing up her face at me, and may have called me a name or
three!!!!
I
saw Toni again about the 17km mark still on the highway, and again she was
running. Actually every time I saw her on the course she was running, maybe out
of fear of the barreling I would have given her, as you would have read in
Toni's blog there was a little bit of walking going on.
We then headed into town, getting regular run splits as the kms to go kept
steadily coming down and I took up position along the esplanade, where Toni would
pass five times on the out and back loops.
A
lot of walkers passed me but lots of runners as well, one of them being
Irongirl, and as Toni passed me going back out of town for the last time I did
a quick calculation and worked out that a PB was indeed possible - even a sub 14 hour PB...
Surely
I wasn't going to be right after getting a telling off in March. However as time ticked down, and I got yet another text alert telling me Toni had less
than 10km to go I posted on Facebook that a PB was possible and my Facebook
followers erupted in positive energy. That may have been something to do with me
telling them all to make some noise...
It
was time to move to a better vantage point as it was then just a quick dash to
the finishing area and, sure enough, within a few minutes the green machine came
into view, running and now smiling, taking the final bend before entering the
finishing chute.
A
quick dash and I was in a great position to see the finish line, and what a
finish it was. 13:53, a PB, yes smashed by 15 minutes, and my prediction in March came true. That
means I'm right, umm I may have to dine out on that one for a little while to
come. :-)
So
not a bad "B" race and, after analyzing all the data, IM6 in Taupo is
looking like another history making event. Let's just say Irongirl and I have
had a discussion about a possible finishing time, and on this occasion Toni
didn't screw up her face and call me a goose.
I
think my support crew role may take a small hiatus but not for long, as soon I
will be pushing Irongirl out the door, as training starts again soon.
Afterall St Pete is right....
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