Monday, March 10, 2014

Ironman New Zealand 2014: The Run

7 hours, 45 minutes and 10 seconds after the starting cannon had gone off that morning I was handing Black Beauty over to one of the fab volunteers in Transition 2.  Despite the puncture she had done me proud and I was ready to head out for a "little" run…

As with T1, the volunteers were in a party mood and had my transition bag ready to hand me as I ran through their lines.  While we were all out riding they were busy adding our names to the transition bags and so by the time we got back they were not just handing our bags to us, they were also yelling out "Go Toni!" as I laughed and did a whoop of joy while heading through and into the tent.  Another amazing volunteer was inside waiting just for me (well it seemed like it!) and emptied out my bag ready to help put on socks, running shoes and put away my helmet and bike shoes.

A big thank you to her and I was out the other end, pausing again for another application of sunscreen and a quick toilet stop - my first one since the swim.

I jogged out of T2 feeling pretty good and got my head ready for the next/final 5-6 hours.

The run is a 3 lap course, out and back through Taupo's lakeside residential area.  The atmosphere in this final stretch is phenomenal with street parties and cheering spectators all the way.  Even so, I knew this leg was going to be all about the head.  It was going to be my mind that would get me through this and I was as ready as I had ever been to get the job done.

The plan was to start out slow and steady and aim to walk the aid stations only.  I had managed this for the first time for the Port of Tauranga Half in January and if I could manage this in Taupo then I should gain a decent chunk of time over previous years.

Lap 1 went to plan.  I was tired and felt slow, but was ticking the legs over and only focusing on the next aid station and trying not to think about the distance to go or the time.  It was too far out to figure out if I was on track for a PB (and I was rapidly getting too tired to care!) and too complicated to keep track of how long it was taking to do the lap.   It was pretty uneventful with the main highlight seeing Dave, dad and Leigh at the end of the lap just before I did the u-turn to do it all again.

Lap 2 was the character-building moment.  It's definitely the worst lap of the three - you are only approaching the halfway mark and you know there is still a lap to go, so it just seems like an endless run with no end in sight.  It was during that lap that I had my lowest moments and found myself walking (and not caring) up a couple of the hills.  It's where a lot of self-talk comes in and I was talking myself through a number of sections.  Halfway back towards the end of the lap (does that even make sense?!) - around 25km I think, I decided to have a toilet stop.

While I was there I also noticed that one heel had rubbed raw as my sock had slipped down a bit and so I decided to take stock and get a plaster from the aid station.  Supposedly all the aid stations had been left with a first aid kit (and I thought a medic as well), but not this one!  Thankfully the guy at the aid station had a first aid kit in his ute and he dashed over to it, dug it out and found me a couple of plasters to put on my heel.  Again, what a star - nothing was too much for these guys.  Just amazing.

So a few minutes stopped there sorting myself out and it was enough to mentally refocus and get going again and finish off that second lap.

Turning at the end to start the final lap and it was a great feeling to be on the final stretch, so to speak.  I had seen dad and Leigh heading to the U-Turn and then as I started heading back down towards the Lake I went past Dave who yelled out "Keep the faith!"

So keep the faith I did.

I did a quick check of my watch and it was showing 11 hours something.  My brain was feeling pretty fried by then but all I could do was think, OK, it was taking me 2 hours to do a lap last year, if I go at that pace I'll finish with a time starting with 13.  And that will be a Taupo PB.  That very rough calculation was enough to motivate me to get going and put all my effort towards getting through the last 14km.

Keep the faith…you can do this.

The last lap did contain a couple of great highlights - on my last pass of the Sweat 7 aid station I came across Jacky who was standing on the sidelines.  There was no hesitation - I stopped and gave her a big hug, it was so good to see a friendly face at that end of the course, so good to be heading home, and so good to have the day almost over.

And as I was running along the lakefront I found myself glancing up at the sun.  Heading out on the last lap I started thinking "that sun is still quite a way up in the sky - I wonder if I'll get to the end before it gets dark".  And again along the waterfront in the other direction, with only 3km to go I was watching that big orange orb in the sky again - it was still just hovering above the hills in the distance.

The most amazing feeling, then, to run past the last aid station, about 500m from the end and see on the other side of the road the volunteers just starting to hand out glowsticks to those heading out for another lap.  Woohoo - I was getting in before the glowsticks!!!!!

I didn't need to look at my watch, or the clock above the finish line.  As I ran down the finish chute - without a glowstick - I knew I had a PB in the bag.  Mike Reilly was calling me in and boy did I enjoy that last 100m.  It doesn't matter how many Ironman finish chutes you see - they are without doubt the most amazing sight and make the entire day and the entire training program leading up to it, worthwhile.

I crossed the line with my hands in a heart shape, sending a virtual hug to St Pete who I knew would be watching live from Sydney.

As I crossed the finish line a familiar face came and gave me a big hug, wrapping my finishers towel around me and putting my medal around my neck.  Charmayne (another fellow ironman, from Auckland, who started on this mad ironman journey with me back in 2011) was volunteering at the finish line and jumped at the opportunity to be my catcher.  Such a great way to finish but there was only one thing to say, which she completely understood: "This shit doesn't get any easier!!!!!!"

Ironman New Zealand 2014.  Ironman #6.  13:10:33
52 minutes faster than IMNZ 2013 and 47 minutes faster than Ironman Cairns 2013.

Job.  Done.  (And a 12 hour finish in my sights!)




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