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!

Kona - Here I Come!

OK, sorry, but the blog entries are going to be slightly out of order...

Normally you'd be reading a race report from Ironman New Zealand about now.  However I'm going to throw this one in now without keeping things chronological because this update is HUGE!

And anyone who is friends with me, or St Pete, on Facebook will know exactly what I'm talking about, as will anyone who was at the Ironman New Zealand awards dinner last night when Leigh and I were screaming the hall down.

Yep, this update is all about Kona 2014.  Irongirl will be there.  On the start line.  With the best in the world.  Who would have thought....

SH*T!!!!!

It's not a huge secret that this has been a long term goal of mine.  Kona is the holy grail of ironman triathlon.  It's where it all started and it's where the best of the best desire to be each October.  For age group athletes there are a few ways of qualifying to go.  The most common way is to win a slot through winning or placing in your age group at one of the ironman events around the world.  The slots are few and far between, highly competitive and awarded via a combination of slot allocation and then a "roll down" process that I won't get into here.

The second way is via a couple of lotteries.  There is the general lottery, where you can pay approx US$50 to get an entry into the draw each year from which 100 spots are randomly drawn.  Then there is a legacy lottery, which allocates another 100 spots worldwide.  This second lottery is dedicated to the average everyday passionate ironman athlete to provide them with a once in a lifetime chance to compete on the famous lava fields.  To enter this one you have to have had 12 Ironman finishes and have never competed at Kona before.  This second lottery is the one I have been working towards - it seemed the most realistic way for me to get to Kona and completion of Ironman New Zealand on Saturday got me halfway there with finish #6 ticked off.

However all that changed last night.

This year was the 30th anniversary of Ironman New Zealand and, to celebrate the occasion, and for the first time ever in the history of Ironman, a loyalty lottery was created - just for New Zealand.  This lottery provided 10 slots to Kona for Ironman New Zealand entrants in 2014 (These were over and above the 50 regular slots allocated to the age groups).  To be in for the loyalty lottery we just had to register and the loyalty part was about receiving one entry for every Ironman New Zealand finish you had.  So my finishes in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 gave me four entries into the lottery and I was keen as to be in to win this opportunity.  Oh, and you had to be at the awards dinner last night to accept the slot and pay your entry fee.

So Leigh, Paul and I were at the dinner and I had credit card with me but trying not to think about it all too much as this was a lottery afterall, and what would the chances be.  In fact Leigh was getting more nervous/excited about it than I was.  We had finished off a great meal and sat through a few speeches when Mike Reilly asked all the age group podium finishers to go and line up along the side of the hall so they could get ready for those presentations to be made.

While that was being organised he then announced they were going to draw the loyalty lottery.  And up on the stage were 10 leis, one would be given to each winner.

Andrew Messick, the CEO of WTC (World Triathlon Corporation, the owners of Ironman) came onto the stage and did the draw and it was pretty exciting seeing the first few names being drawn out and recipients coming up.  A couple of really memorable moments came when Mike Ramsay, the only person to have completed all 30 IMNZ events got drawn out, as did Ron Skelton, a 27-time finisher.  I found out later that neither have competed at Kona before, so it was fantastic to see them get a spot.

We got to the 9th name to come out of the barrel and Mike Reilly starts saying "Toni Hodge".  I think I took a couple of micro-seconds for it to register but before he had finished uttering my name Leigh was already screaming with excitement.  She screamed, I screamed, we both jumped up and hugged each other across the table - never mind all the bottles and glasses between us - and then I ran, yes - RAN (!) down the side of the hall to the stage.  Along the side  were the age group podium winners lined up ready for their presentations and a few of them stood out and high-fived me as I ran past them screaming.  It was like running down the finish chute all over again.

I got to the stage, ran up the stairs and hugged Mike Reilly.  Turned around and there was Andrew Messick, who had drawn my name out, and gave him a big hug as well.  He put the lei on before I turned back to Mike, gobsmacked, who then laughingly asked me if I wanted to go to Kona, to which I said "Hell, yes!".  And then he asked who I was there with and all I could say was "Leigh and Paul!". I was so excited I couldn't think straight and I must have looked like I had just won a million dollars.  

Instead I had simply won the right to fork over US$825 and go play in the ironman sandpit with best in the world in the heat and wind of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii in October.

SH*T!! 

WOOHOO!!

On the other side of the stage, when I came off, was Terenzo Bozzone, one of New Zealand's top iron and half iron distance triathletes, and I think he was waiting to congratulate me.  Well, it didn't matter if he wasn't - he got a huge hug from me as well! 

In the meantime Leigh was phoning St Pete in Sydney but because of the noise in the hall wasn't going to be able to hear him very well, so it was a one-sided conversation that went something like this:

LEIGH:  "Don't say anything, just listen, pack your bags - YOU'RE GOING TO KONA!!!"

His response when he got to message me a couple of minutes later?

"Holy Sh*t!"

Couldn't have said it better myself...

Ironman New Zealand 2014 - Another Ironman, Another Challenge

I am sitting at Sydney International Airport, not far from Gate 57, patiently awaiting the departure of flight EK412 to Auckland.

In 4 days time I will be on the start line for Ironman #6.

In the spirit of all good adventures, though, this one promises to be as unique as the five before it.  And  I haven't even left Sydney yet!

First of all, it's going to be a different experience because this time I'm travelling solo.  St Pete, my rock, my biggest cheerleader, team manager and support crew, all rolled into one amazing package, couldn't get out of work commitments and so made the difficult (but right) decision to stay at home.

Family and supporters can be some of the most underrated stars of the ironman show.  Yes, I am out there getting the job done, not allowed to take any outside assistance.  It's all down to me from the time the starting cannon fires to when I jubiliantly (and painfully and slowly!) make my way down that finish chute.  But a big part of that is the psychological support you get from knowing your "team" is out there somewhere on the sidelines, looking out for you and getting ready for the next sighting so they can tell you how wonderful you're looking (ha!) and relay it to other friends and family who may be further afield.

And then there's the looking after, before and after the main event...whew!  That's a job and a half... Is it any wonder St Pete needs a break to recover almost as much as I do when I cross that finish line!

So I'll be preparing and racing in Taupo without my biggest supporter on the sidelines and he will be missed.  But we will be in touch every day and on Saturday I know he'll be online keeping track and will be floating just above my shoulder all the way.

But it's not all bad news - while I'll be without St Pete, I will still have an amazing team in Taupo and so won't be doing this alone.  As he did last year, dad will be driving up from Christchurch and Coach Dave will be flying up to join the fun as well.  Can't wait to see them both.  Plus it's going to be amazing to share this weekend's journey with ironman virgin Paul, and Leigh (who has been promoted to the role of Camp Mother in St Pete's absence!)  Will Paul be hooked on this madcap sport like I was after he crosses that finish line on Saturday night?  We'll have to wait and see!

So, I have the team, now I just have to get to the start line in one piece.  And that brings me to my second challenge in this year's adventure.  Brought to you by the letter "I".

Injury...eek!

I've been so lucky these past 4 years to have remained basically injury-free, however that run of good luck threatened to come to an end about three weeks ago when I had a run-in with the uneven boards around Luna Park.  No doubt affected by a reasonable level of fatigue, I managed to trip over a board and hit the ground front first, landing heavily on one knee.  After feeling sorry for myself for about a minute I picked myself up and carried on, not giving it much more thought.  That weekend was the final big bike training block and so a big dose of hills on Saturday was completed before planning on a flat ride on Sunday.  Well, let's just say that Sunday ride was a cruiser....

The outside of my right knee had packed up big time and I couldn't put any pressure on the pedal stroke on any sort of incline.

Not to worry, "there's still three weeks for it to settle down" was the thinking, and so a regular routine of icing and rest was started to give it the best chance possible.  Despite my best efforts, though, it remained niggly and started to make me grumpy and paranoid enough that Pete, Mel and Coach Dave were starting to tell me to go pay a visit to the physio.  I resisted for a couple of days (this irongirl doesn't get injured, it'll come right, what's a physio going to do now, blah, blah, blah).

Finally I succumbed and did as I was told.

After a full assessment my physio figured the most likely theory is that my fall might have done some minor damage to the meniscus (pad) inside the knee joint and it got properly inflamed and upset by the big hill ride a couple of days later.  A round of anti inflammatories, massages to loosen up the leg muscles that had tightened up down the side and a continuation of the ice treatments should see me all set to go on Saturday.  Whew!  

So, support crew sorted.  Injury sorted.  All I have to do is get to Taupo, enjoy the rest and relaxation for the next few days and then have an absolutely wicked time on Saturday. 

St Pete - this race is for you. xxx

Reflections on a Big Training Weekend

I thought Australia Day weekend was a tough one.

I was wrong.

Saturday saw me scheduled to do a 2km swim, 100km bike and 90 minute run off the bike.

Sunday was for another 100km bike and 90 minute run off the bike.

My reflections on the weekend?

Attempting 85% efforts for 2km ended up being an "F" for execution. But I did as I was told by Coach D and got out of the pool as soon as I felt that it wasn't coming together.  Hated the fact that I had only managed one set (250m) though.  Never mind, onwards!

Sydney drivers in the Northern Beaches this weekend were awesome.  Thank you for being considerate around me and giving this solo chick a safe amount of space on the sometimes narrow winding roads.

Lace monitors are wicked!  Spotted a huge one on the side of the road during my monster climb out of Church Point.  (Much like this one that turned up at the Hornsby RSL last December...) Not much less than 2m long but he didn't want to hang around for me to get the camera out.  Another thank you to the car ahead of me on the road that actually drove around the goanna rather than run over him when he was half on the road.

Doing two rides on consecutive days totalling 200km is tough but including 3000m of climbing is even tougher!  But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

Running in 28 degrees plus, with no aid stations available to throw water over yourself, is a killer.  I must be acclimatising to Sydney though - a couple of years ago 20 degrees plus would have killed me off!  It did mean, however that our 90 minute runs got cut back to 60 minutes.

So the aborted swim and shortened runs meant this weekend was far from perfect - but still tough.

And while this Type A personality hates not hitting the sessions exactly as they've been set for her, as Coach D says "Progress, not Perfection".

And I definitely got that one right.

A Reflection from the Book of St Pete: 2014 Edition

Well 2014 has started and, as Irongirl is still away in New Zealand, it's about time I added a new chapter to the ever growing blog collection.

Who can remember the very first ½ ironman that Toni entered a few years ago, where the only aim was to finish?  Oh how times have changed.

But before I compare ½ ironman races, let's have a look back at the results of 2013, and where better to start than with me :)

I competed in a number of short distance runs ranging from 5 to 14km events.  One particular event that I ran with our friend Mel, an experience that Mel may remember for a long time to come (enough said).

I also did two half marathons.  The first was with Irongirl in May which we ran together the whole way and for the first time Toni broke the magical 120 minute barrier.

Then in October we both lined up for the second half marathon of the year and, as you would have read in previous blogs, Toni showed again her improved running ability and I set a new PB of 105 minutes.

Interceded with these events I also found the time to compete in two full marathons where I set a PB in the first of the year and stayed within 10 minutes of that PB on the second.  So overall a pleasing 2013…

But there’s more.

Let's summarise Irongirl's exploits over 2013 (just the major ones):

Sydney City to Surf (14km fun run): PB   Check

Sydney Half Marathon: PB                        Check

Blackmores Marathon: PB                         Check

Ironman New Zealand (the A race): PB     Check

Ironman Cairns (the B race): PB                Check*

*This wasn’t supposed to happen as the A race at IMNZ was the focus and IM Cairns was just to complete the distance towards the 12 races needed to get a Kona slot. (yeah right) :)

Not a bad year’s work!!

But now we come to 2014 and as you would have read in Toni’s previous blog, I gave the green light for Tauranga.  As the year progressed from time to time I mentioned that I thought a sub 6 hour race in Tauranga was possible.  However Irongirl brushed this off and just wanted to do a good race. ##

But let's look back a few years to that ½ ironman race in Lake Hood, just out of Ashburton, where Toni’s only focus was to finish inside the 7 hour cutoff, and finish she did, which led on to full Ironman and the rest is history.

The Tauranga half ironman was a different focus, not only to finish, but go out and give it a good crack. Toni and I even had the odd discussion about a top 11 finish, which would have meant qualification for the NZ age group team for the world long course champs in China later in the year.

So as you already know, the target of 6 hours was achieved and 11th place in Toni’s age division means potential NZ team qualification.  Although it wasn't an option for this year, it's nice to know what’s achievable and, who knows, Irongirl may turn up at the Tauranga race again with the aim of qualifying in the not too distant future.  :) 

In the meantime I am at day 21 of the www.slowtwitch.com 100 runs in 100 days challenge, currently sitting just outside the top 30 (not that I’m competitive or anything) and Toni is content in the knowledge that another chapter in the ever growing Irongirl legend has been completed.

½ Ironman PB and sub 6 hours:​​​      Check/Check

Top 11 placing in age group and Tauranga ½:   ​Check

Overall a pretty awesome start to 2014.

So the 2014 event calendar for Team Irongirl is pretty much set: a couple of fun runs, a ½ marathon, a marathon, and just a couple of Ironman events.  And that’s just Toni’s schedule...

It’s going to be a great year.  Why?

Because St Pete said so…

The end or just a new beginning.

## Have to say it, “I may have been proven right!!!”

Port of Tauranga Half - Race Report

The Port of Tauranga Half has a great history.  It is the longest running half iron distance triathlon in New Zealand, this year celebrating its 25th anniversary.  It was first run on 2 January 1990, its founder inspired by competing in Ironman Hawaii, and has become one of the country's iconic events in the annual triathlon calendar taking over the holiday town of Mt Maunganui every summer.  (The souvenir program provides a great history of the event and is well worth a read.)

And that on its own was a pretty good reason to enter.  The entry came about, however, after a challenge was made by two of my iron pals, Mel and Jacky.  They suggested I come over and do it with them.  But believe it or not I did hesitate.  While it's always good to slot in a half iron distance into the season in the build up to Ironman New Zealand, it would require an additional trip to New Zealand and not just a straightforward flight into Auckland.  There were the additional logistics of bringing the bike over and then driving to Mt Maunganui, around 3 hours out of Auckland.  In other words it would be on a scale, logistically similar to travelling to Ironman NZ but for "just a training day".

Most importantly, however, was the fact that it was down for 4 January which was St Pete's birthday.

On that basis alone I was prepared to flag it, however St Pete thought about it for a few minutes and before I knew it was messaging the two instigators back: "If you both enter then Toni can too". Woohoo, green flag given!

And so that's how Mel and I came to be standing waist deep in Pilot Bay at 6.15am yesterday searching out the turn buoys amongst the moored yachts.  (An operation a few weeks ago had caused Jacky's withdrawal but she would be found on the sidelines cheering everyone on.)

Mel and I at race briefing

The conditions were almost perfect.  The water wasn't glass-like as it had been the morning before and there was a light drizzle in the air, but that also meant that there was no rising sun to swim into (so no sunstrike on the water) and the temperatures would be a couple of degrees lower also.  The most difficult thing was finding those buoys amongst the boats.  And this wasn't like Ironmans New Zealand or Cairns - no buoys every 100m or so along the course!  There was one buoy at each corner and we needed to know the course well enough to navigate our way around the smaller 700m loop first, out onto the beach and back into the water again for the longer 1300m loop.  I figured, though, if I couldn't see the buoys immediately I simply needed to follow everyone else - afterall I was under no illusions that I'd be out in front!

My race plan for the day was to pretty much go by feel.  Coach Dave and I had tossed around a couple of ideas but his ultimate feeling was that I should just see how it goes and play it by ear.  I had some new nutrition to try out and so the primary aim also was to come through the run avoiding any gut issues.  To that end I planned to try out a scenario of eliminating gels from the bike leg and switching to them only once I started running.  On the bike leg I would take a supply of home made date and ginger bars and supplement that with electrolytes in the drink bottle and a banana from the two aid stations.  

The plan for the swim was to simply take it steady, try to follow feet where I could and come out of the water fresh enough to put in a good solid bike leg.  The aim for the bike was a sub-3 hour bike split.  Anything aside of that would be go by feel and see how it pans out.  The run was always going to be a tricky proposition.  My ultimate aim for ironman is to succeed in putting together a run leg where I actually run the whole darn distance except for walking through the aid stations.  To date I haven't managed that yet!  The other scenario was to try the plan from my last half marathon where I picked up the pace slightly every 5km.  After doing a practise run around the gravel and undulating base track of the Mount, which we do twice in the race, I wasn't sure that this was going to be a goer, but kept it in the back of my mind as a possible strategy to go for.

Anyway, I was feeling good about the day and ready to get going, and after giving Mel a good luck hug, we both found some space in the water and waited for the start gun.  I would see her again after the finish.

The swim started and we started making our way down the course and between the boats.  The swim itself was pretty comfortable although it was pretty offputting to come out of the water on the first loop and see 20 minutes showing on the race clock.  As I got back in the water for the second loop I couldn't help but be demoralised briefly when I calculated a 60 minute finishing time for the swim, based on the second loop being basically twice the distance of the first.  What I didn't do is actually look at the Garmin strapped to my wrist.

Duh.

Partway into the second loop I remembered that the clock would have started from when the pros went (around 6 minutes ahead of the female age groupers) and therefore needed to be ignored.  Common sense had returned and while I wasn't sure how much time to deduct from the clock I put it out of my mind and focused instead on getting to the finish of the swim.

Out of the water, into T1 and onto the bike.  As always, this is my favorite part of the race - now the day can begin!  The bike course is essentially flat and there was only the lightest of breeze so I was confident I could put in a good performance.  While there are half a dozen U-turns and a similar number of corners to negotiate, it's generally a great opportunity to hunker down on the aero bars and put in a solid time trial ride.

I wasn't able to watch my speed so pretty much went by feel.  I was passing plenty of people which was a good sign and the only other pace indicator I had was the Garmin which gave me an alert every 5km.  Maintaining a speed of 30km/hr or better would result in 5km being completed in under 10 minutes, so that was what I kept an eye on.

I also used the 5km alerts as a reminder to have a date bar.  Great strategy except for one small problem.  After eating a couple of them I realised that the 9 bars I had in my pockets would only last the first half of the bike leg at that rate.  That's OK, I thought, I'll just spread them out a little bit and it'll be good to have them predominantely in the first half of the bike leg so that my gut will have had time to digest them before I start running.

There is one aid station on the bike course and we pass that twice and so the plan was to pick up a banana and water on the first pass (about 17km in) and then replace the bottle of electrolyte, top up the water and grab another banana on the second pass (at around 62km).  This sort of went to plan except there were no bananas available the first time around and the second time around was a bit of a comedy show.

As we approached the aid station I threw out the empty electrolyte bottle and called out for banana, electrolyte and water.  The first thing I got handed was a banana.  Tried to put it in a pocket to grab later but couldn't do it quickly so stuck it between my teeth.  One second later I get handed the water bottle.  Bugger, can't put it anywhere (this bottle gets used to top up the bladder in the bike and then gets tossed aside) and I still have to pick up the electrolyte - don't have enough hands!  So I hand back the water bottle to the next volunteer, grab the electrolyte bottle from another volunteer, put it in the cage and finally pick up another water bottle from the final volunteer.  Top up the bladder in the bike, toss the bottle away and finally extract the banana from between my teeth and peel it so I can actually eat it!  Whew - a shorter aid station than I'm used to in ironman certainly made life more entertaining for the onlookers, I'm sure.  And not quite sure how I managed to stay upright - I ended up rolling through VERY slowly, and still clipped in.  For a millisecond I thought it would be easier to stop but I only had one hand on the bars and the other picking up and giving back stuff to volunteers so stopping wasn't an option.  Yikes!

Towards the end of the bike I knew I had pushed hard and was confident that I would have come in ahead of my 3 hour goal.  It was a happy irongirl who therefore rolled into T2.  As I changed into my running shoes a girl was next to me doing the same thing.  "Just a little run to do now" I said to her.

If only it were ever that simple!

I headed out of T2 and while the legs were feeling like lumps of concrete just kept saying to myself "running is always faster than walking".  I decided in those first couple of kilometres, then, just to keep running, no matter how slowly I was going.  It would be better than walking and I could reassess once I had hit 5km.  At each aid station I walked through and for the first of the two laps I had a gel at a couple of the aid stations and electrolyte at the others.  At one aid station I saw a supply of bananas and because I had failed to have one on the bike decided to try one on the run.  Almost immediately I got a minor reaction in my gut and that was enough to tell me just to stay away from the solid food full stop.

After around 5km I was starting to feel as though I was in a pretty good rhythm.  My pace was sitting around marathon pace which I was happy with and it felt like my heart rate was pretty comfortable.  I had managed to maintain a run all the way around the Mount track where others were walking and so I made a conscious decision not to pick up the pace on the road section.  While I knew I could probably pick it up a bit I was concerned that it might result in me blowing up and walking sections of the Mount track and this could result in a slower overall time.  So I stuck with the conservative strategy and just picked off the kilometres with walks through the aid stations only.

On the second lap I went to take the 3rd of the 4 gels I had with me and, like the banana before, got a minor but immediate reaction to it.  That was enough for me to decide enough with the gels and for the the remainder of the run I just took electrolyte drink at each aid station.

As I approached the Mount track for the final time I saw Mel's friend Elise just past the aid station.  As I walked through it Elise asked if I had seen Mel on course, which I hadn't.  It had been difficult to look out for her on the bike but I had expected we'd cross paths on the run.  Elise was worried as she had seen Mel on the bike but hadn't seen her running.  I had to keep going, though, but it was a worry to know that she might have pulled out.

The final time around the Mount was tough but good - most people around me by that stage were walking up the climbs and I was still running and getting past them.  About 3/4 of the way around the track for the last time the Garmin beeped at me to give me the 19km split.  2km to go and the total time was reading 5 hours 48 minutes.  In a repeat of the Ironman Cairns scenario I was calculating the time remaining.  Could I do a couple of 6 minute kilometres and get to the finish inside 6 hours?

It was a long shot but I decided I had nothing to lose and I may as well give it a shot.  If I had been conservative before this was the time to seek payback and see what I had.  What made it a bit tougher was the first of those final kilometres was still on the undulating unsealed track but I still picked up the pace where I could and very soon I was back out on the road and it was a flat run to the finish line.  Around 1km out was the final aid station and I grabbed a cup of water there and tossed it over my head without stopping (yep, didn't walk through that one!), pinned my ears back and focused on getting to the finish line.

I managed to pass a couple of people in that final stretch and I remember thinking "if anyone sprints past me now, good on them".  I don't think I had much more in me and was pretty elated to cross the finish line, pressing the stop button on the Garmin and seeing 6:00:00.  Officially I stopped the clock at 5:59:58 - talk about cutting it pretty close but that final kilometre was completed in 5 minutes 36 seconds; my fastest split for the whole distance!

Start slow and finish strong - one of Coach Dave's mantras and one I managed to follow :)

After the finish I finally found Mel and was gutted for her - after her second puncture of the day she was forced to pull out having completed around 53km on the bike leg. So disappointing for her but I know she'll be fired up to do another half distance event in the near future.

In the meantime, I savoured my reward of hot chips, gobsmacked that I had achieved 11th place in my age group and a theoretical place in the New Zealand team for the long distance world champs.  

Who would have thought this irongirl would be capable of something like that....
(St Pete certainly thought I was but it was beyond my wildest dreams!)

Port of Tauranga Half: Thelma and Louise do a Road Trip

It's the first day of 2014 and tomorrow is the beginning of a girls' weekend.

Most typical girls' weekends would involve large quantities of wine, chocolates, pedicures, manicures and facials.  Maybe a soppy movie or two, a show, shopping or other fun night out.  Exercise of any sort is a big no-no, unless it involves letting your hair down on the dance floor, and the only marathon these girls would contemplate is one involving vast numbers of shops or several hours of movies.

But this is my blog and this Irongirl doesn't do your typical girls' weekend.

No, my kind of girls' weekend involves Black Beauty, a fellow irongirl as crazy as myself and far more luggage than most airlines think is really necessary.

And that is the plan for this weekend, which is why I find myself back in New Zealand and ready for a road trip to Mt Maunganui tomorrow, with fellow crazy chick and awesome buddy Mel.  

On Saturday we complete the Port of Tauranga Half.

And then we bring out the chocolates and movie!