Ironman New Zealand 2016 - Sh*t Happens

First of all, a disclaimer.  If you've found this post as the result of a Google or other internet search, in a quest for a race report on Ironman New Zealand, you've come to the wrong place.  But don't worry, your search has not been a complete waste.  If you're not fussy about years, I can give you plenty of reports on this wonderful event in a special part of the world.  If that's what you want, try my race reports from 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 or 2015.

This post, although titled Ironman New Zealand 2016, is more about the lemons life sometimes throws you and a reminder that, above all else, what happens to you is not important.  What's important is how you react to it and being thankful for the silver linings.

Because there are always silver linings.

2016 was to have been my 6th time at Ironman New Zealand, starting the homeward journey to legend status at this event (10 IMNZ finishes required), and 11th ironman overall.  However on 31 January 2016 life decided to throw me a curveball and so, as the race unfolds tomorrow in beautiful Taupo, I will be at home in Sydney, streaming it live and cheering on all my friends, while nursing a busted up leg.

Yep, shit happens.

The story starts 5 weeks ago.  I was into my final big block of training and 5km into a 120km TT ride when fate intervened.  It was early morning and, with the sun in his eyes, a driver made a split second error of judgement and failed to give way to me, making a right hand turn across the road into a driveway.  I was in aero, doing about 28kmph, watching him approach from the other direction.   As I rode I kept watching, looking for indications that he had seen me as he slowed down and pulled into the right hand turn lane.  I was in a bike lane, he was turning into a driveway and simply needed to stop for 5 seconds while I passed.  However, just as I was virtually parallel to him, he accelerated to complete the turn, by which time I had nowhere to go and no time to stop.  The front of the vehicle hit me side on, Black Beauty sliding under the vehicle as he screeched to a stop.  Thankfully I somehow unclipped from the bike and went over the bonnet, landing on the road a couple of metres away.

The pain in both my knees hit me instantly and I was stopped dead on the ground, breathing hard through the intense pain and wishing like hell the adrenaline would kick in quicker.  Almost immediately there were people around me, stopping to help, including Alice, who would stay by my side, directing the others to find blankets for me, keeping me still, talking to me and not letting me close my eyes.  As I was perched on the ground I could see Black Beauty on her side, under the wheels of the SUV, and I was immediately thankful for the first silver lining of the day.

Much as I loved her, I was so glad it was Black Beauty under there rather than me.

A quick phone call to Pete was in order, giving him the news that no triathlete's or cyclist's partner wants to hear, that I had been hit by a car.  As I lay on the ground, looking at Black Beauty still under the car, I promised my saint that I was "OK", (well, OK enough to speak rationally to him and convince him that he didn't need to try and get out to the accident scene - made more difficult given I had taken the car), and this brought about the second and third silver linings of the day.

Yes, my face was fine (not smashed up) and not much in the way of gravel rash, including none on the hands for this non-glove wearer when TT riding. My knees definitely took the fall on this one!

The phone, that had been in the FuelCell on the bike, came through completely unscathed.  Big ups to its LifeProof case!

It was established early on that I had a significant laceration to my left knee but everyone was also concerned about any spinal injuries or concussion. And so when the ambulance arrived it was all about pain relief (which also helped the shaking I was doing now that the shock had set in) and putting me into a neck brace and onto a spinal board for the trip to hospital.

Drugs had kicked in - getting bored with the phone!

Once in hospital I had a full assessment - x-rays to check for broken bones and spinal damage and neurological tests to check for concussion.  By this stage Alice had gone and found the car and brought it and the wrecked bike to the hospital, and found Pete, who had also made his way to the hospital.  She had gone above and beyond that day and I will always be grateful to her and the others who stopped to help a fellow cyclist by the side of the road.

Alice is racing Ironman New Zealand tomorrow - her first ironman and hopefully the first of many!

After all the tests came back it looked like the main concern was the laceration to the knee.  So the ED Registrar stitched me up and sent me home with scripts for painkillers and instructions to see my GP on Tuesday for a follow up and to check they hadn't missed anything....hmmm...if only they knew what they missed!  But no matter, more silver linings were all we could think of at the time.

No broken bones, no concussion.

Before ...

...and after. The Registrar's handy work.

At that point and for the next 24 hours my spirits were pretty high.  Yes, the next morning I literally knew what it felt like "to be hit by a bus", as the bruising started making itself felt - everywhere.  But there was still 5 weeks to IMNZ and if the stitched knee was the only thing I needed to worry about then there was every chance I could still make the start line - even if it was minus the final solid set of training.  And even though it was unlikely Black Beauty would be travelling anywhere soon, I already had the alternative worked out.  My trusty Avanti, who had seen me through my first couple of years of ironman, could easily be set up again to make the trip.

IM #11 was not yet derailed.

By the time I went to my GP on Tuesday, though, a small red flag was waving.  My right knee, which had been virtually ignored by the hospital, was giving me grief big time.  While I could walk on it, any twisting caused intense pain and a feeling that it would give way.  Something wasn't right and my GP immediately sent me off for an MRI.  She knew what I was up against - she had already felt it necessary to tell me to stay out of the pool until the stitches were out!  And while I waited until the end of the week for the results to come through I was crossing my fingers that the results would simply show a bad wrenching of the knee that we could intensively rehab over the coming weeks.  That optimism was buoyed by the fact that walking did seem to improve slightly over the next few days - surely that meant it was getting better?

My world came crashing down, though, that next visit when my GP's first words were "it's not good unfortunately".  While I hadn't broken any bones I had instead managed to tear or partially tear three of the four ligaments in my knee.  The ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) was gone, the PCL (posterior cruciate ligament) was partially torn and the MCL (medial collateral ligament, the ligament that runs down the inside of the knee) was torn.

There was no way around it - Ironman New Zealand was out.

An immediate referral to a surgeon was the next step and while the tissue box took a hammering the next couple of days I immediately looked to take something positive out of the situation.  I didn't know much about ligament injuries but knew that ACL tears tend to require surgery and a pretty significant rehab time.  The ligament can't just be sutured together, rather it needs to be reconstructed, commonly via a transplant from the hamstring.  However more than just the ACL was involved here and I really didn't know what to think, but needed to take some positive action in the meantime. And that first focus was sorting out my ironman entry.

Thanks to a new initiative being piloted by Ironman Asia Pacific, I was able to transfer my New Zealand entry fee to Ironman Western Australia  in December and so this became my new focus.  My surgeon didn't yet know it but he would have a deadline and I would do everything I could to be able to get to the start line.

15 days after the accident I was sitting in Dr Robert Molnar's rooms while he and his intern pored over the MRI scans and examined the state of both my knees.  The verdict was a bitter pill to swallow.  I had definitely made a mess of my right knee and he was able to confirm the original report of full tears to the ACL and MCL and a partial tear to the PCL.  In fact he wasn't sure how I was managing to walk on the leg at all.  I guess my fitness and strength were carrying me through.  Even worse, was his caution about Ironman Western Australia.

"I don't know if 10 months is going to be long enough to get you ready to run the marathon" is not something this irongirl was interested in hearing.  "What if I walk it?" was my response.  "I don't care if I get to the start of the marathon and have to walk most of it - I just need this goal to be able to focus on."  Hmm, determined, much?!

Not only this, though, there was his view about the MCL repair.  Apparently there is a window of about 2 weeks in order to successfully repair it.  And here we were, 2 weeks and 1 day post-accident.  With no time on our side, he disappeared out the room to see what could be done.  5 minutes (and a couple of tissues) later his nurse comes in, exclaiming that "this must be important, he normally wouldn't do this".  Schedules had been pushed aside and I was booked into surgery 48 hours later for a multi-ligament knee reconstruction.

Whoa - wasn't expecting that.

The next couple of days were chaotic.  It would be fair to say that no one was accustomed to planning for surgery this quickly outside an emergency department, including the driver's insurance company who were supposedly paying for this.  While they complained about not having enough time to approve the claim, and refused to do so in time, we resigned ourselves to having the surgery delayed a week. However Dr Molnar wasn't keen on delaying and after much mucking around I was finally wheeled into surgery, as planned, on Wednesday evening, 17 February - 17 days post-accident.

Day 1 post-surgery - the only way now is up.

So here I now am, just over 2 weeks after surgery - an operation that required 3 hours under the knife to fix what was apparently quite a mess in there.  I have a leg brace I call Boris that is my constant companion until the end of this month and several months of rehab in front of me in order to regain mobility and strength in my right leg and then the fitness and endurance that I am currently losing slowly but surely.

I haven't been able to take part in Ironman New Zealand this year and that was the most upsetting news to deal with (even more than the accident itself).  But once I came through the surgery all of that disappointment left me and my mindset switched.  My whole focus is, and can only be, on recovery and rehabilitation and successfully getting myself back to the ironman start line, whether it be Western Australia in December or New Zealand next March (Dr Molnar's preference for me).

And while there are plenty of lemons in this story and plenty of reasons for tears, the silver linings far outweigh them all.  Besides those I've already listed above:

• It didn't happen just before Kona.  My once in a lifetime Kona dream didn't get derailed and so even if the worst case scenario happens, and I end up not completing another ironman, my Kona finish will always be with me, as will all 10 ironman finishes.  That is far from being a likely scenario at the moment though.
• The driver admitted liability straight away.  Yes he made a mistake, but he stayed around after the accident and admitted liability to the cops at the outset.  We've been in touch since and he's apologised profusely, which is never easy to do, and so I feel no bitterness towards him.
• The driver was fully insured.  His motor vehicle insurance should replace the bike and his compulsory third party insurance is covering my medical costs.  Imagine if he had been driving an unregistered, uninsured car.
• I'm still here to tell the story.   It could have been much, much worse and this, by far, is the most important silver lining.

Ultimately this should simply be a small hiccup along my ironman journey.  A journey that is far from dull and never predictable.  And for that I am truly grateful.

Yes, shit happens to all of us.  But part of the trick to getting through this life happy is rolling with the punches and getting back up again.  Whether it's looking for the positives, or learning from the experience, it's all about how you choose to react to the shit that gets thrown at you.

And whether it be in December this year or March next year, I plan to deal with this shit by doing everything I can to race again.

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!)

Ironman New Zealand 2014: The Bike

Transition 1 was a bit of a blur.  I held a steady jog along the green carpet then up the stairs and through the waiting volunteers who had my transition bag out ready for me to grab.  What a team!  Into the tent and another volunteer found me quickly and stripped off my wetsuit and grabbed my gear out of the bag.  Bike shoes on, spare chocolate brownies in my back pocket (thanks mum!) and sunglasses in hand, I ran out of the tent, accepted a rapid application of sunscreen from more volunteers and found Black Beauty.

Time for the fun part of the day!

Onto the bike and into my stride.  The bike course can be broken down into four sections.  It's a two lap course, out to Reporoa and back.  There are a few hills around the Taupo end of the loop and then it is mainly flat, although slightly downhill overall out to Reporoa.

The first lap on the bike went to plan.  A solid pace, passing lots of people and feeling strong.  I was eating and drinking regularly and my biggest concern was staying out of trouble with the technical officials!  There were a lot of people around me (that I was mostly passing) and staying legal distance from the person in front was a bit of a challenge…  The best approach seemed to be making sure I was always moving through the "pack" whenever we were being watched and this approach seemed to work.

Either that or I was just lucky...

Towards the end of the first lap, as we were heading to the hills coming back to Taupo, I went past a girl who then came by not long after and called out as she passed, "I thought it was you!".  It was Leonie, a friend from Rotorua who I had met through Jacky when she came to do Ironman Cairns, her first full distance after the aborted IMNZ in 2012.

Leonie and I then proceeded to track each other through Taupo - I'd go past her on the downhills and flats and she'd catch up again on the hills.  I remember thinking to myself that it was going to be a great second lap if I could stay with her for the rest of the distance and then maybe get far enough ahead on the flat section of the course to hold her off on the final climbs back into Taupo.  (No, I'm not competitive…).

I went through the 88km mark in 2 hours 48 minutes - well inside my 3 hour goal for halfway.  But I knew there was an additional climb to negotiate on the second lap, plus I needed some breathing space for the inevitable headwind that we would encounter for the final section coming back into Taupo.  So I was happy with the split and confident I was on target for a 6 hour bike split.

On the second lap we deviate slightly and go onto a private road as we head out of town - which adds the extra hill.  This was all fine until about 500m from the end of the road when my back wheel starts going "thump, thump, thump".  I didn't want to think it possible, but it was the heart-sinking bump of the wheel rolling over the valve when the tyre is flat.  The road surface was quite rough so I took a minute freewheeling to see if it was really going flat or hopefully it was just my imagination.  But, no, finally I cruised to a stop, got off and, sure enough, the tyre was down.

Just as I stopped Leonie flashed past me.  That would be the last I saw of her…  crap.

Ah well.  Better get this tyre fixed.  Back wheel comes off, tube out, carefully run my fingers around the inside of the tyre to find whatever it was that caused the puncture.

Can't find it.

Run my fingers around the inside a second time.  If there's something there I need to find it, otherwise this is going to be a bit of a disaster.

Still can't find it.

Run my fingers around the inside a third time - and double-check the outside of the tyre.  Nope, nothing.

At this point I decide I need to take a punt and put the new tube in, hoping like anything that it doesn't go the way of its predecessor in 5 minutes time.  Inflate the tube, put everything back where it belongs and get going again.

The Garmin later shows that I was stopped for 7 minutes.  But it didn't ruin my day.  It had given me 7 minutes additional "rest" which surely can't be a bad thing, plus my main goal for the day was to put in a solid run, and if my 7 minutes "rest" was going to help that then I'd take it!

Thankfully the new tube was all good - sweet!  Only thing was, my knee was about to stop playing ball.

About 5km from the turnaround at Reporoa my injured knee started making its presence felt and so the last 50km was spent nursing it back to Transition.  That final, fourth section, also had the headwind arrive, and the slight overall climb back to Taupo which meant I took that last stretch reasonably conservatively.  Spinning the legs more and knowing that I still had a run to do and that this is where I was planning to make up the bulk of my overall time.

While I punctured and got a sore knee, though, it could have been a lot worse.

One section of road on Broadlands Road had been resealed just that week and so we had a section of road, about 400m long that was even rougher than the typically rough chip seal surface we were riding on.  And at least one guy went down on it and was being tended to by medics when I went past.  His food and bottles from the bike were still strewn across the road and.  I was pleased to have got through that section (and the whole bike leg, in fact) in one piece.

I rolled into T2 still happy with my efforts - an overall bike split of 6:13:59 which was still 17 minutes faster than my 2013 IMNZ bike split.  No puncture and injury-free knee means a 6 hour bike split is definitely within my sights on that course!

Just a little run to do :)

Ironman New Zealand 2014: The Swim

Facebook post on race morning:

OK, ready to do this - really windy overnight but it's died off now and shaping up to be a good day. If you've got nothing else to do, live coverage of the race will be on at www.ironmanlive.com and, if nothing else, it's shaping up to be an exciting race between Cam Brown and Bevan Docherty. And I'm hoping Terenzo can give them both a fright as well! On the girls' side Gina Ferguson should give Meredith Kessler a run for her money.

Oh, and 1700 of us age group athletes will also be out there, having the time of our lives and being looked after by 2000 volunteers - those guys rock!

Have a great day people - I think St Pete is going to hack my account during the day. See you on the other side! xx

So I was a happy camper, calm and ready to have a great day (so different to Ironman #1 in 2011!)

Me taking a photo of you taking a photo...

The wind had been huge overnight.  I'm generally a good sleeper but the noise woke me several times and had me wondering about contingency plans and also mentally double-checking that I had in fact clipped the helmet onto the bike properly and hoping the security guys in transition were looking after our bikes OK.

But nothing to worry about - by the time the alarm went off at 4.00am the wind had gone and when we got to transition the bikes didn't even look like they had been touched.

A quick phone call to St Pete (no sleeping in for him in Sydney!) and we were all down at race site checking in.  Coach Dave and dad found Leigh, Paul and I down there and I headed into transition to check the bike, load it with food and drink and then let one of the friendly bike mechanics pump up the tyres.

Wetsuits on and then we headed down to the swim start.

The lake was looking great for the start and the air was electric with the anticipation of almost 1600 (there were 1586 official starters) ironman athletes ready for a good day out.  After many photos and hugs all around Paul and I headed through the swim gate and down to the water to await the start.

Paul was excited to get going and he was amazed to get out by the start, turn around, and see the hundreds of bodies still up on the beach and coming into the water.  It really was a sight to see.  Before we knew it, though, the grand prix lights onshore were counting down the last 3 minutes and then the cannon went off and we were into it.

And into it in a big way!

It was absolute bedlam to the first buoy and still chaotic to the second buoy.  People trying to swim into you, over you, push you aside, gobfuls of water, it was a complete thrashfest.  And I definitely felt it for the first few buoys, really having to talk myself through it.  I stayed on Paul's feet for about 50m and then he disappeared and would eventually come out of the water about 10 minutes ahead of me.

Pretty soon, though, I found another pair of feet that were great to follow - barely kicking at all but still going at a good pace and these feet took me to the first turnaround.  I didn't do a lot of sighting on that first half but did notice that we had ended up just on the inside of the buoys.  Not to worry, we were only around 5m inside and we worked our way back to the outside in time to round the first turn buoy at the far end of the course. 

Rounding the bottom two buoys I lost that pair of feet and looked for some more to latch onto but for some reason this seemed a much more difficult task.  One pair I got onto were doing what I can only describe as a fugly kick.  Thrashing around and feet splaying apart sideways - it was a wonder there was any forward motion and it definitely wasn't something you wanted to follow.  I therefore spent most of the return leg either in clear water or trying to move onto a new pair of feet.

All through the leg, though there was almost constant contact with other people and it wasn't exactly fun or friendly contact.  More than a couple of times I'd have someone trying to swim up my legs and I'd suddenly find myself at a 45 degree angle with ankles sunk down.  Thankfully for me, unlucky for them, I have a strong kick when I need to and so they all received a pretty violent response from my legs kicking the cr*p out of them in return, which soon got rid of them.

I also found myself defending my position on my friendly pair of feet on that first half of the swim leg.  Quite often I'd find someone trying to move in on them and so I'd have to hold my position until they finally gave up and moved off somewhere else.

This irongirl may not be the strongest speed-wise in the water, but don't mess with her - I don't get intimidated easily!

I don't know if it was because I was slightly further up in the field or whether it was down to the fact that there were around 400 extra people in the water compared to previous years, but virtually everyone I spoke to afterwards commented about how rough they found the swim (in terms of body contact).

Finally we were turning around the final buoy and heading for shore.  Always my favourite part of the swim (!) I was pretty pleased to stand up and see the clock reading 1 hour 23mins as I ran out of the water.

It was around 3 minutes off last year's swim so I was really happy considering the shaky start.

Onto the bike and the real fun would begin!

Ironman New Zealand 2014: Pre-Race

OK, now the excitement of the previous post is out of the way, onto the main business.  Ironman New Zealand ticked off for 2014.

It had been a good build up but, like all ironman events prior, there were new challenges to deal with before making it to the start line.  For the first time I was dealing with a minor knee injury and, also for the first time, St Pete wouldn't be on the sidelines or taking on chief support duties while in Taupo. 

Nevertheless things had gone pretty well.

I had a great flight with Emirates from Sydney to Auckland - love their A380 to bits!  We get off the plane and, for the first time ever, I get to the baggage claim area and find a whole stack of bike cases already lined up by the carousel ready for collection.  Usually the bikes seem to be the last out but this was a welcome change, and impressive sight - big ups to the ground crew in Auckland!

Lake Taupo, looking towards the swim course - stunning as always

As soon as I got through immigration and outside the terminal I phoned Jucy for my pick up to go to their depot and get the rental car.  That also went really well with the Jucy guy not only unloading the bike case etc from the van but then also loading it all into the car for me.  (Oh, and if anyone is interested, yes, a bike case does fit in the back of a Hyundai i30 hatch, with the back seats down, as does the fully assembled bike afterwards!)

Within an hour of touchdown at Auckland Irongirl was on the motorway heading south.  Sweet :)

Getting into Taupo that evening was like arriving home.  We have been coming to Boulevard Waters for Ironman each year since 2011 and love the spot.  Close to the run and bike courses, far enough out of town to be quiet and yet also within walking distance for St Pete to easily get around.  Plus, a natural thermal pool onsite is the best thing for chilling out in pre and post race.

The hot pool … the best!

Wednesday was pretty relaxing, although the potential for disaster happened early, down at the lake.  First up was a brief swim and all I had to do was 30 minutes.  However as I started swimming out towards the first buoy down the course the current towards the outlet had me thinking I wasn't moving.  The old brain tricks of "not getting anywhere" tried to throw me but I hung in there and talked my way to the third buoy before swimming across to the other side of the course and heading back.  30 minutes done and, apparently, 1.5km swum so I ended up being happy.  However I decided there was nothing to be gained by putting myself through that mental game again and ended up not doing the planned Thursday and Friday swims.

Sounded like a fine strategy to me!

My main task for the day was putting the bike together (all good first time - yippee!) and checking out the ironman expo. Then a relaxing afternoon with my feet up and a light run along the lakefront.

All good.

That evening Leigh and Paul arrived from Christchurch and overnight I knew dad was making the long drive up the country from Rangiora to be on the sidelines for me race day.  My support crew on the ground would be complete the next morning with a quick drive to Rotorua to collect Coach Dave from the airport. 

Thursday ended up being a little more "hectic" than I had wanted, but that was OK. Back from Rotorua with Dave and it was straight to registration, followed by a couple of talks that I decided to sit in on. 

The first one was an aero seminar presented by Specialized and mainly talking about their purpose-built wind tunnel, the first of its kind and opened just last year. It was fascinating stuff and interesting to hear the most aggressive positions aren't necessarily the most aero.  It's all about presenting the smallest frontal area as possible.  For instance if you are dropped down in an aggressively aero position your head will likely pop up above your shoulders so you can see ahead and that increases your frontal area.  The second takeaway was specifically for the guys and was all about the perennial question of leg shaving. With the wind tunnel they have been able to confirm that shaving your legs is more aero and can save almost 6 minutes off an ironman distance bike leg.  If there were any guys in the audience planning to have unshaven legs on Saturday I think they were headed to the supermarket for the razors after that news!

After that seminar I joined Leigh and Paul for the first timers' seminar and then a relaxing late lunch with Dave before heading back to the apartment and taking Black Beauty for a very quick spin. Dad called in for a quick catch up and a Skype chat with mum who was holding the fort back in Rangiora and, before I knew it, it was time to head to the welcome dinner. An afternoon lie down hadn't eventuated but, never mind, I would make up for it on Friday.

Paul and I registered

Friday dawned calm and sunny again and after a quick Skype with St Pete in the morning all I had to do was pack the transition bags and check them in as well as the bike.  Things were set for a great day and I was chilled out and relaxed.  That evening dad, Dave, Leigh and Paul all converged in my unit for our pre-race dinner.  It was a pretty relaxed bunch and hopefully we were all managing to help allay Paul's nerves a little.

He was about to have the adventure of his life and I was so happy to be sharing the day with him, and excited about ticking off Ironman #6.  All going to plan, on Saturday night I would be halfway to a legacy lottery slot for Kona...

Let's do this!

I Would Like to Thank the Academy ...

A week down and recovery is almost over - it's almost time to start looking towards Cairns and my second Ironman of the year.  But before I move on from last weekend's efforts, it's time to put down some thanks and recollections on all the people that were with me, either in person or in spirit, on the day.  So here is my own list of Academy Awards ... each and every one of you are winners in my book.  :)

St Pete:
My co-star and all round good guy, Pete is the reason I can live my passion for this mad sport.  He cooks for me, cleans the house, stays quiet when I need an afternoon nap, and carries all my gear when we troop down to Kurnell for monster training weekends.  Then come race day he's on the sidelines all day, from the time the cannon goes off until I cross that finish line, cheering me on and making sure that any other twits mad enough to come and cheer for me aren't slacking off in a coffee shop or bar midway through the race.

Every irongirl needs one and, sorry girls, he's NOT FOR SALE!  :)

While my ironman effort on the day is a solo effort, getting to the start line isn't and Pete completes the other half of this team like no one else.

And the Oscar goes to ....

Coach Dave:
No team can function without a coach and D is an all-star.  We've been together since the beginning of my ironman journey and it's been a fantastic partnership that's also developed into a valuable friendship.  He understands the limitations that life can put on an age-grouper and is all about getting the best out everyone, loving life and living the dream, whether that's a 14 hour finish or a Kona qualification.

I loved our "night before" dinner where my guys (Pete, Dave, Dad) brought back dinner - rotisserie chicken and salad - and D concocted a special pre-race dessert for me: banana, Zilch vanilla bean ice cream and apple crumble yoghurt.  It was his favourite combination of fruit, fats and sugar, and it was yum!  We had a great evening with lots of laughter shared and the next morning D ensured I hit the start line happy and relaxed.

Dad:  
My 71 year old dad, and "The Shot" coffee maestro, jumped in his Coffee Shot van and drove from Rangiora to Taupo so that he could cheer me on - and provide coffees on demand!

It was fantastic to see him and after a disappointing year last year, where mum and dad only got to experience a half distance race, it was wonderful to give him a "real" ironman spectating experience this time around.

Even more memorable was him turning up with magnetised/ removable custom-designed signs on both sides of the van shouting out "Supporting Irongirl101" which he then left with us to use for my future races.  Dad did an amazing job keeping up with St Pete and Coach Dave all day and it sounds like the "boys' day out" was a blast.

He then proceeded to give me kittens when I heard that he had left super-early on Sunday morning for the trip back to Rangiora, getting home early evening, in time for his regular coffee round on Monday morning.  Legend, or is that madness?  Whichever it was I was so glad you made it home safely!

Ironjack:  
Jacky is the most amazing supporter and friend that I found while building up to Ironman #1 in 2011.  We shared that journey together via Facebook, and we both crossed the Ironman finish line for the first time that year in torrential rain.

Since then Ironjack has been out of this world busy developing her own business that keeps her away from focused IM training but doesn't stop her from cheering everyone else on as they continue towards their goals.

Jacky provided me (and many supporters) free entertainment on Saturday by "running to her car", which appeared to be in a similar direction that I was heading on the run leg and then, 10 seconds later, tripping over a road cone.  Needless to say I didn't stop.

Looking forward to toeing the Ironman line with you again, Jacks, in 2015?!


Melz:
Mel, triathlon event organiser-extraordinaire, was running a triathlon in Rotorua the morning of ironman and then jumped in the car and drove to Taupo in time to cheer me on during the run course.  After I finished Melz greeted me with a big hug and the loving words that she now hated me ... because I beat her ironman PB.  Oops :)

She was the inspiration behind the silver ferns on Black Beauty and sent me the ferns that went on my helmet and bike box with the reminder that she's "keeping me Kiwi".   In another Kiwi moment, Mel was also responsible for leaving a packet of Choco-ades at our apartment door the morning after - yum!  

Proud to be Kiwi, Melz, and so looking forward to having you in Cairns this year,  as well as on the start line in Taupo with me in 2014, so we can do some damage to our PBs!

Me and my IronBabes: Melz and Jacky

Leonie:
Introduced via Ironjack, Leonie did Ironman Cairns last year and this year was on the sidelines in Taupo cheering me on while I battled my way through the run.

A fount of knowledge, Leonie was the unlikely star when I figured I had nothing to lose by asking if she happened to have any bright ideas for relieving a stitch (I had already tried massaging it out while running, to no avail).  Stopping to bend over and kiss my knees was something I never dreamed I'd be doing on an ironman run but, there you go, it worked and so I'm definitely not complaining!

Lesson to be learnt - always ask, even if you don't expect a sensible answer.  You may just get a gem - thanks Leonie!!!


Supporting Cast: 
Mum, Mel B, Jacqui, Joe, Ra, Budgie, Fran, Mike, Elizabeth, Cate, Annie, Sandy, Kaye, Leigh, Lisa, Sandra, Justine, Rosie, Andi, Ang.

What a team.

You couldn't be with us on the day but thanks to the power of Facebook St Pete kept you all up to date and your messages of support got through to me loud and clear.  Love your work guys, and let's do it all again soon!

The people of Taupo: 
Whether they were volunteering or cheering along the sides the Taupo community were fantastic and are the reason Taupo is such a great place to come back to year after year. 

Even the small touches were noticed and appreciated, such as the pharmacy staff that happily used their body oil samples to remove my number tattoo the day after because they had sold out of baby oil. 

The parties that lined the run course were also a highlight - I was suffering too much on the run to acknowledge everyone but the support that was there for us made a huge difference, not only to our progress toward the finish line, but to our enjoyment as well. 

On Sunday the sign below went up on the main street, and it really says it all.  Taupo, take a bow.  You rock, and we look forward to coming back next year.

Ironman New Zealand 2013 - Race Report

The big day had arrived.

Finally the weather gods were smiling on Taupo and, after two years of meteorological disasters, it looked like we were going to be treated to a fantastic day. Calm lake, great temperatures, I was looking forward to putting in a solid effort.

Get to the start line in the best form you can.

Those were Coach Dave's words to me a few months ago and I had kept that phrase on the fridge as a constant reminder over summer. I was in the best form of my life - let's see what this irongirl can do!

I was feeling happy and calm as I had breakfast and got ready.  Helping to keep me in my happy place was my iPod, loaded with my favourite P!nk tracks that had kept me company on my long bike rides this summer, and I think I managed to amuse St Pete as well as I silently (or maybe not so silently?!) danced my way around our apartment.  Just after 5.00am we made our way down to the Domain, found dad, checked in, and gave the bike a final once-over.  Tyres pumped, water and sports drink loaded, helmet in place, Black Beauty was ready for the day.  Wetsuit on, we wandered down to the lakefront and found Coach Dave before I said farewells to all and went through the swim start chute and into the water.

Dad and I - about to start a long day

I got into the water and started stroking out towards the start line.  The lake was as still as it had ever been, the water crystal clear and I felt an immediate calm wash over me. 

Today would be a great day.

As we waited for the start gun I chatted to the woman next to me.  She was an ironman veteran and excited to get started.  A couple of minutes to go and an announcement comes over the loudspeaker, "An athlete has just torn through his wetsuit - does anyone have a spare?". Oh no, poor bugger, not a good way to start the race!  I don't know if one was found for him but the water was at least warm enough for him to do the swim leg without one if it came to that.

Finally the sound we were all waiting for - the cannon fired and over 1300 bodies started swimming. I had positioned myself on the right hand side of the course, towards the buoys and around the middle of the pack.  As we got going I got smacked in the teeth with an errant elbow but wasn't overly concerned (what a change in attitude from a couple of years ago!). A couple of minutes later I got caught in the middle of a pincer grip - two swimmers started swimming towards each other with me sandwiched in the middle.  I was happy to hold my own, not budging until I finally got a lungful of water from one of them and had to stop and have a coughing fit for a couple of seconds - at least it was fresh water I was inhaling...  But thanks to my ocean swim experiences that particular incident also failed to induce any sort of panic attack or adrenalin rush.

Lungs returned to an oxygen-carrying state, I carried on stroking, nice and easy, and found myself following the bubble trails of other swimmers. This was something I had been practicing at the pool all summer.  If I caught up with another swimmer in my lane, rather than immediately trying to go past them, I would practice trailing behind, using their draft and thus minimizing my own energy expenditure.  

And so it was with this swim.  The water was so clear that I could follow people's feet and stay in their draft.  In fact I started playing a game with myself and called it "toe tapping" - where I would stay just close enough to the person's feet as they were kicking that I'd be able to just gently tap their toes with my fingers as I stroked.  It probably annoyed the hell out of the person I was trailing and if you were one of them, sorry, but thanks for the ride around the swim course!

I say thanks for the ride as the effect of sticking close like this was huge in terms of my energy output.  Occasionally I'd lose someone's feet and end up on my own and the extra effort required was so noticeable that I'd quickly be looking around for the next pair of feet to latch onto!

It continued like this around the whole course.  I barely needed to sight and just focused on staying in touch (literally) with the feet or bubbles in front of me.  Every so often I'd get toe tapped also and so I knew I was in good company!

As we rounded the last turn buoy and headed for shore I was feeling great - still fresh and even more excited when I stood up and saw the clock in front of me displaying 1:26 ... 4 minutes ahead of my A-race plan.

Pulling the wetsuit down to my waist I started running to transition.  It's a reasonably long jog along the green carpet and about 3/4 of the way to the steps I saw a familiar top ahead of me.  Another Balmoral Tri Club member competing today was up ahead and as I approached from behind I greeted him and we wished each other a fantastic day.

With that I ran to transition and got ready for the bike. I ran into the tent, quickly found a wonderful volunteer who wasn't occupied and she helped me strip off my wetsuit and put on my bike shoes, get out my gel bottles, sunglasses and race belt.  Everything on I left her to clear up the mess (sounds like home!) and jogged out of the tent, paused to be sprayed with sunblock and headed to where Black Beauty was waiting.

Out we headed onto the bike, and a new experience.  Lots of other competitors around me!  That made the bike course infinitely more interesting as I focused on passing whoever I could and trying to avoid being within someone's 10m drafting zone, especially when a technical official was around!  

The first lap of the bike went well.  I felt like I got into a good cadence, felt strong, and was passing many more people than were passing me.  At every second aid station I picked up half a banana to supplement the gels I was taking, was sipping water whenever I felt the need, and generally being at one with the bike.

As we headed into town to start the second lap I was still feeling pretty good. On my training rides I would consume a bottle of water, a bottle of sports drink and 1 gel flask (around 4 gels) on a 3 hour ride, and so I expected to be able to manage by simply refilling all the fluids halfway around. I  was therefore due to top up the water and replace my sports drink bottle around then and, at the halfway aid station, refilled the water and then got a new Horleys bottle and discarded the empty gel flask at the following one.  

Heading out to Reporoa on the second lap the heat started to get noticeable and it felt like there was a bit more wind, although the grasses and trees weren't really moving, so it was difficult to tell.  I tried chugging down a bit more of the fluids to compensate though and, as a result, ran out of water just before the turnaround.  So while the first bottle of water had lasted me 90km, the second bottle lasted less than 45km.  Eek!

I filled up again at the next available aid station coming back to Taupo and tried to just hang tough for the last 45km.  It was definitely getting tougher.  For one part there were fewer people around me - by this stage we had all spread out and so there wasn't so much jockeying for position, which kept the mind occupied.  For another part my head was starting to lightly throb - it felt like the beginning of a migraine, which I can get if I'm dehydrated and this was a bit of a warning sign.  

Finishing the bike leg - and still going for it

At that point I didn't know if it was the wind, the heat, not enough fluids/electrolytes or the aero helmet not giving me enough ventilation, but all I could do was hang in there to the end of the leg.  Luckily we got to the final climb past the racecourse and I knew we were into the final 10km which would be predominantly downhill all the way back into town.  Minor problem, though, was that in that last 10km my water had run out again and there would be no more aid stations to undertake a refill.  However this wasn't a time to hold back and I instead relished the last section where I managed to pick up a few extra places while people were slowing down to take their feet out of their shoes. 

Quick tip - 1km out is not the time to be undoing your shoes, guys.  This is a wicked fast section of the course coming into town and you don't want to waste it fiddling with your pedals!  Leave the unclipping until the last 300-400m when you are coming around the back of the Domain.

I made a great stop right at the dismount line and jumped off the bike feeling pretty good, considering.  Black Beauty had been a dream to ride and I came off comfortable and ready to run.  As always the volunteers were ready with our transition bags - my number was called as I ran in and by the time I got to the bags it was being held out in front of me to grab.  Awesome work!

I ran into the tent, took off my bike shoes, changed socks, running shoes and cap on and gels into the back pocket of my pants.  Wearing compression socks on the run slowed me down a bit - they are tight buggers to get on, on damp feet!  Might have to rethink that strategy.  Anyway, while I was getting ready a volunteer was slathering me with more sunscreen - brilliant!

I took a gel, paused for a drink of water to wash it down with and started running out of transition.  Feeling good.  I saw the boys and, still on a high from the swim, paused to give St Pete a happy kiss and called out to Coach Dave, "that was an amazing swim!".  

Coach D could care less.  

"Forget about the swim, get the job done.  Start out slow, finish strong."

Yikes, yep, OK coach....!  Suitably told off I got going, although still buzzing inside.
2km down the road that buzzing had gone and I knew things weren't right.  The wheels were about to fall off and I was about to enter my low point of the day. 

Unable to run to the first aid station as planned, just another 500m away, I walked and tried to do a stocktake of what was going wrong.  My stomach was cramping up and my head was still feeling a bit funny - the migraine feeling had gone but had been replaced by a bit of light headedness.  Apart from that, physically, I was feeling OK.  The legs were feeling fine and I definitely didn't have that overriding feeling of exhaustion that had plagued me in Cairns and forced me to walk virtually all of the marathon.

Nevertheless I knew I had to try and sort this out, otherwise it was going to be yet another walked marathon, and that was not a goal for the day.

In the hurt locker

I got to the first aid station and couldn't face taking a gel so decided to try something different - a cold piece of quartered orange.  Coincidence or not, but 5 minutes later and I got a stitch.   F***k!  OK, no more oranges - even if they weren't the culprit!

My next decision was to try simplifying the nutritional intake and so I went to just taking in flat coke and by the time I got to the far end of the course on the first lap I had decided that I couldn't face taking in any more gels.  At the end of the course was where we had access to our special needs bags so I took the opportunity to grab mine then and dump my gels into the bag so I could retrieve them the next morning.

The first two laps of the run, then were a mixture of running and walking, and trying to deal with a cramping stomach and a stitch, and I tried to relay this to my guys and gals as I saw them in the hopes they'd be able to miraculously whisk away my ailments.  Fat chance!

Well actually that's not completely true.  At one point I saw Leonie (who had done Ironman Cairns last year) and asked her if she had any miracle ways of getting rid of a stitch.  "Bend over if you can and kiss your knees".  What?  OK, I did - must have looked very funny to the spectators lining the streets.  And blow me down, it worked.  The stretching movement was obviously just enough to disperse the accumulated lactic acid and one little problem had just been eliminated.  Wahoo!

By the time I got to the end of the second lap I was getting really frustrated with the stomach cramps still and so stopped at the aid station to ask a medic if they had anything that might settle it.  They didn't but she suggested that, if I could, I should ditch the coke and just keep sipping the Horleys so as to keep getting in some electrolytes.

I was mildly sceptical but did as she suggested and by the time I got to the turnaround point of the last lap was starting to come right.  Perfect timing for a strong finish home, as per Coach's instructions!  I had been amazed to see how many people ahead of me were walking during the run leg, even those on their final lap heading home, and that kept my own confidence up, knowing I wasn't the only one suffering.

Passing the final aid station on the way to the finish is always a highlight - it's on a hill and so it's essentially downhill for the last 2.5km.  With about 1km to go I heard a familiar voice and think it was Mel shouting encouragement but there was no pausing or turning to check.  I had the blinkers on, ears pinned back and the only stopping would be happening after that finish line which, as always, was the most amazing sight to see.

I turned the final corner, ran onto the red carpet and soaked up the atmosphere of the finish line crowd and Mike Reilly calling me over the line as an Ironman (again).  As I approached the end I looked up at the clock.  14:08  What a fantastic sight that was - an hour off my time in 2011 - smashed my PB!

Coach D, me and St Pete - what a team!