TIMBERMAN 70.3 NEW HAMPSHIRE 2013

Timberman 70.3 New Hampshire,

This race was not on the original plan for my USA trip, but i ended up having a pretty big fall on my long run the week after my Lubock Texas race and it had a lot more of an impact on my body than I first anticipated, which resulted in a pretty flat/tough patch of training through July. So i opted to forego the Boulder 70.3 and give myself another couple weeks of recovery and training and do Timberman.

New Hampshire is such a stark contrast to the dryness and distinct golden and blue horizon's  of Boulder. Its tree lined highways and crisp clear lakes make for a beautiful race setting. My coach had described the race to me but I think he sugar coated the hills on the bike a bit as when i drove the course the friday before the race I thought I had covered the hills he described only to find  a handful more pretty major climbs still to come.........lets just say I was happy to have had them surprise me in the car pre race rather then be confronted with them on race day, it was going to be a very 'honest' bike course!

Apart from some pretty consistent wind on the bike course you could not have asked for better conditions come race morning. The swim was crisp but calm and the air temp perfect, Finally a mint day for racing!!!

The pro woman started 2 mins behind the pro men and behind us was the group of challenged athletes. I am pretty sure the vibe amongst us was a mutual feeling of both thankfulness for our health and also one of huge respect as we watched these athletes head into the water with there various disabilities with an understanding of just how hard a feat they were about to embark on yet there hugeness of spirt and anticipation that was brimming off each of them was infectious and a definite fuel for each of us to make the most of our opportunity to race.

I got off to a great start in the swim, it was a straight line for about 600m and i was able to settle in with a group of 4 and we swam in a line through most of the swim, spreading out a bit as the girl in front of me had a habit of detouring off course quite frequently but by the end we had all bunched up and exited closely on the heals of each other. I was last in the group on the waters edge but 2nd into transition (always good to have a decent bit of running between the waters edge and T1!!!) and was feeling good and ready to get out and bike hard.  

The race official was there giving us splits on the group and with a margin of 5 mins to the leader ( who is a genuine fish) and only 2-3 mins on the next group i knew my group of 4 was still in a good position. I snapped on my helmet only to feel a loose bit of strap fall freely i checked again to try and fasten the helmet buckle up but then realised my buckle and strap had broken, gutted as i knew my shaky hands would struggle to get the strap re attached, i thought I would try my luck and ask the race director for some tech help, thankfully he said yes and went about fixing my helmet, as I got out of my wetsuit etc, he gave it back to me and it broke again so he had another go which thankfully was an okay enough job to send me out on the course. His leaving remark of "its attached but bearly...... so don't crash" only had a hint of humour in it but what else was I to do I had come all this way to race so I thanked him and headed out of T1. 

After a pretty decent swim I now had some work to do to catch the girls back up. Thankfully I was feeling good with the abundance of oxygen down here at sea level!  and I got stuck in straight away and pushed it over the first block of rolling hills and caught right up to the leader of the group of 4 and settled in behind her. we rode as a line for the next 20 odd kms with the lead shifting among the group but I sat near the back not wanting to expend to much energy this early on as I knew the hills to come further into the course! 

As we came over the crest of the first major hill my back wheel hit a massive pot hole. I waited with that sickening feeling of anticipation to see if I had punctured it....The wheel felt wobbly but I could not figure out if it was the tire or if I had done some other damage. I was so concerned about the wheel I forgot to check my rear bottle cage so of course as I came down the other side of the hill the bottle came flying out. I made the call not to stop for it as I had a girl on my tail and I didn't want to loose the others. 

From that point though the bike felt rough and as it ended up I thankfully didn't puncture but it looks like I had not tightened the skewer enough and the wheel shifted over to the left of the frame with the impact and was rubbing. Not enough of an issue to ruin the race but enough to make the bike drag for the next 50kms, not ideal.

The 4 of us managed to catch a couple girls and then our orders reshuffled a bit and we thinned out. I was struggling a bit with the wheel and didn't hold the first couple girls so had a pretty much solo ride back for the half way turn around other then 3 age group guys who rode past. 

As per my plan once over the last of the big hills I started to really drive it home over the the last 12km and I felt really strong coming into T2. I had held my place after the reshuffle and although i didn't really know my official place I knew with a good run I could pick up a few spots and get into that top 6. 

I had a few cramps coming off the bike and running into T2 which momentarily sparked a few fearful memories of my nightmare run in the Hawaii 70.3 three months earlier, but as I settled and headed out onto the course my legs freed up and that wave of relief that one feels as you realise your running legs are showing up for work today and not going to abruptly stand you up for the premier show and leave you hanging to fight it out on your own.

however pretty much after the first 1km lap split buzzed on my Garmin i had a sudden familiar sensation of intense tightness in both my soleus muscles and then the complete wave of numbness incase both my feet from the soleus down. "Oh Crap" and a few more cursory superlatives ran through my head as I registered the familiar feelings that I have been plagued with for pretty much my whole triathlon career, and resigned myself to still run the best I can with despite this complete loss of feeling in both my feet. 

I had had a great bike set up prior to leaving NZ which had addressed this issues and  despite not running all that great in my last 2 races this issue had been eliminated so it was pretty gutting to have it return on my last race in the states for 2013 season. I struggled in and out with it for the entire race with my pace shifting from low 4min km's to mid to high 4mins kms corresponding to  the patches where the numbness was present or the parts at the beginning and end that it had freed up. Disappointingly there was more time in the numb phase then the not.

Despite my struggling the run was a stunning treelined course along side the lake and had some super fun and supportive aid stations! but It was a hard slog for me and I ran my best for the day which disappointingly was no where near my 'Best'.

SO I ended up 9th pro in a race I went into ranked 5th, so yes another top 10 result which is great but disappointing to have had the mechanical with the helmet, bike and the feet! and not hold onto that ranking. 

SOooooo I survived the long haul trip back to NZ that one encounters with the cheaper Hawaiian airline tickets, despite the delightful American middle aged man that I had the pleasure of sitting next to  on the 5 hour flight form LA to Hawaii, that managed to spill his wine all over me and my seat only an hour into the flight and then use the only napkin we had between the 2 of us to wipe his tray table clean and not offer at all to help me clean up the mess and then 30 mins later have the audacity to tell me that i was very lucky to be sitting next to him!!

But on a brighter note I am feeling very blessed to some how have only had to pay $40 US for my luggage/bike for the whole trip from Denver, LA, Honolulu, Auckland! 

The last three months have been an absolutely awesome experience and I have again learnt and grown so much. I would have loved to be able to stay a bit longer and get another race in and really nail it, but Visa's are sometimes an issue! SO I look forward to my next race either here in NZ or in Aussie.

 Thank you again to everyone who helped support me in getting to Boulder this year, It would not have been possible without your support, and I am truly thankful.