IRONMAN CAIRNS 2014

Driving along the Cairns coast line window down, thick warm air blowing past, incasing my arm as it hangs out the window held up effortlessly by the the pressure of the moving air. Eyes following a bird soaring high in the air, easy to pin point out with its whiteness in stark contrast against the intensity of the blue, cloudless sky. I close my eyes and the warmth of the sun on my face is pure bliss…….. until I realise that somethings missing……. then reality hits and I am pulled back from my moment of day dream, and remember that whats missing is that its Tuesday the 10th june 2014, two days post Ironman Cairns and I am driving up to Port Douglas with Marc to enjoy what has ended up been the only day since he got here that has not been cold and raining, only thing is that like I said its two days post Ironman Cairns and whats missing is that highly sort after feeling and familiar  post race ache in the body. A mix of dehydration and plain micro muscle damage that one experiences after pushing the body to its extremes, putting everything on the line and drawing on all that passion, hard work and hours of training that has been previously banked in the build up to the race, to see how fast and how far one can go…. that indescribable sense of satisfaction, and been an ironman I would say relief of knowing how deep you had to dig… and seeing how well you pulled up on the other side….. However the only pain I had was the headache I had from the pressure in my sinuses and the thickness in my chest from the Chest and Sinus infection that was still hanging around and that had robbed me of my chance to race Ironman Cairns.

I am not going to go into huge details but the basic outline is that I arrived in Cairns Sunday 1st June one week prior to the race. I had a fantastic home stay called Lucy in the perfect location and even had her little dog Baxter to keep me company as I let my body winde  down and freshen pre race.

Things had been a bit stressful in the week leaving for Cairns but once I arrived I felt settled and by Tuesday night I found myself sitting in the Cairns promenade eating my pre race fat load dinner thinking how ironic it was that i was siting here eating a hamburger and on Sunday I would be running past this exact spot in the Marathon league of an Ironman….. I knew I would remember this moment during the race and tried to tell myself to use this to make me giggle a bit inside no matter how the race was going. I remember leaving that spot and feeling like I was finally in a really good spot I was nervous of course but excited and really felt I was living the Dream. Cairns was the first place i went and trained abroad and raced as a pro triathlete and here I was 3 years later returning to step up and race the full.

But life does have a way of throwing us some decent curve balls and things kinda went down hill from there. I woke Wednesday morning with a sore throat and feeling crap, both my coach and I tied to discard it as just something minor that can happen during pre race taper, and that is what I continued to tell myself as the week progressed, despite the fact that i felt like I was progressively getting worse. I did my best to carry on with training as planned as it wasn't much anyways this close in to race day, but the thing is I was getting progressively more shattered as the week went on not fresher…. which I knew in my gut wasn't right but ever the optimist I continued to try and trust  that when I woke up Sunday I would be better.

However by Friday I was starting to realise things weren't so good. I remember doing a 20min easy swim in my wetsuit and rolling over to do a bit of back stroke and hearing this deep rasping noise and wandering what it was only to click that actually it was me inhaling……It actually gave me a bit of a shock and a reality check that maybe my chest was worse than I thought.

Despite that onwards and up wards Saturday went ahead as planned, despite feeling progressively worse as the day went and coughing up more and more crap out of my lungs. I did my best to put up a healthy front at the race brief and it was a mission not to have a coughing fit….. not a good look to start hacking up green crap the night before an Ironman in a pro briefing …. or maybe just a good way to empty a room fast….

I was doing my best to stay light hearted about everything and just concentrate on the race ahead, but its a hard place to be in when its the eve of the event you have spent months and so many hours of hard grind working towards and you should be in a space of freshness and strength eager to unleash it all the next day, yet my body was a shadow of its self and felt like it was fading away as the day progressed. Coming home that afternoon post briefing, Pre (My Cervelo) racked and ready in anticipation and I was seroiusly struggling to get up the one flight of stairs up to our first floor hotel room.

Saturday night was a rough one and when the alarm finally went off at 4am although I got up on automatic and started to get into the pre race routine, I didn't get  very far until i was held with yet another coughing fit however today the infection was in the sinuses and the chest so crap was coming out my chest and nose and i was in a really bad way. I guess thankfully at that point even though it was such a heart retching decision to have to make that I knew it was pretty black and white there was no way I could race. I was in contact with my coach in Boulder and he and Marc made the decision for me, I was in no state to even start.

So Sunday June the 8th was spent in a pretty budget hotel room bed feeling like crap, with cough mixture, panadol and lots of fluids. Not the day I had been envisioning in my mind on all the long training sessions in the weeks leading in thats for sure, but I guess if I had the mental toughness to race an ironman I had the strength to get through this day despite how sucky it felt.

So for what ever reasons Cairns was not meant to be. I have no doubt that I made the right decision however it doesn't make it any easier. The fact is I had put the work in, I was ready to race and I was in a really good space, and I am totally gutted that I didn't get that chance to express all the training I had done.

Of course though thats the nature of the game sometimes, it can be harsh world. but once I am back into  full health and training again I will be gearing up for my next race and another ironman, my time will come I just obviously will have to be patient!

The Impact of the ‘little Things’ and a Pretty Powerful ‘Little’ Bee!

I am a great believer in paying attention and been diligent to the little things in life with the belief that when working towards a bigger goal the consistent accumulation of the little aspects of this bigger goal is sometimes more significant in your progress than any one big event.  

Matthew Syed with his book, Bounce - the myth of talent and the power of practice, is somewhat challenging in its title but once you uncover his wisdom within the deeper pages of the book his rather brash title starts to make a lot of sense and works along the philosophy of respecting the power of the continual/repetitive build up of little things.

So when deciding to work with my new Coach Michael Lovato one of our key goals was to improve my ability to train consistently and make a change from the more periodical 3 week on 1 week off approach that I had been following. Change is always hard specially when the body perceives the change as stress but without stress there can be no stimulus to change. So over the last 6 months I have been working on building consistent training weeks and I am very happy to report that although its been challenging it’s working.

However as with all training there are sometimes periods where you are working firmly and you know your pushing limits but are still hitting the numbers and handling the load, feeling invincible and then Boom! Suddenly we are hit with a session that doesn’t go to plan you don't hit up your numbers or your times and your working hard but the results are not where they should be and our instant emotion in the heat of the frustration and fatigue can sometimes be that of failure and that suddenly after weeks of successful sessions we are very quick to forget that progress and render ourselves useless and not in shape. (Come on you know we have all been in that state of irrational thinking at some stage in our triathlon careers!!)

That's when the value of having a coach steps in and you have a non emotionally attached person to remind you of the ‘Little Things’…that its not about one key session going right or wrong its about the continual build up of the sessions and progressively gaining strength from those sessions as a whole. No one session can make you the athlete you want to be. Or to look at it another way – although key sessions that go to plan can be a tool for building great confidence in our ability and a huge boost pre race, I don’t believe that one training session can define you as an athlete and the form your in.

But in saying that, one then also has to respect the impact and power of the build of the little things in the opposite direction. Such as sometimes the body gets presented with stressors both internally and externally that on there own would not be a huge deal but with the load of one stressor on top of another and another on top of an already full training stress the power of this continual build up of so called “little things” in reverse has to be respected.

The challenge is however to do exactly that - respect the negative Impact and deal with it as needed but not allow yourself to be overwhelmed by the consistency of life's ability to just keep slapping you in the face. As assuredly I can tell you sometimes it can feel like exactly that.

So it would be that I have had to be reminded of both the positive and negative build up of the little things. And after experiencing the true positive effect of the continuous build up of little things through the last 6 months of working within the new training regime, I now have to recognise and respect the negative build up.

The last 3 weeks have been one of those challenging times in your life where you have a plan and a schedule and your excited about getting it done and then you find out that life has other ideas. Nothing major has gone wrong and for that I am truly thankful and this is not meant to be a whinging feel sorry for me type of blog entry. What this is meant to be is a encouragement to anyone else out there who is or has in the past had periods in there life where they have experienced this continual light slap in your face from life that after relentless slapping can stop you from moving forward.

 All I can say is random cluster effect. We live in a broken world therefore we will always have to face challenges at sometime in our lives. Whether they be of our own making – unavoidable consequences of our own choices or mistakes or simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time – fate or bad luck what ever you choose to recognise life’s ups and downs as. And yes it sucks but as my mum would say if you can persevere through  (and as long as there is an open door I think you should) it will be very character building...

However at some points in my life (say Gal Bladder Boulder 2012) I feel like surely I have enough character? But the fact is apparently you can never have enough.

So let me tell you about the last 3 weeks;

Week one was about dealing with a bike crash and a resulting pelvis lower back issue, an allergic reaction to a wasp sting and a DNF in the Auckland half, a disappointing crappy week but not the end of the world. Week two brought about a fresh start and ideas for building back into training, but as I said life sometimes has other ideas and Monday arrived and so did a stomach bug, so I plugged through that week patiently then just as I was coming right from that a delightful little bee ended that flash of optimism with a beauty of a sting in my left eye which by the next morning had left me completely swollen up and blind in that eye. The stunning selfie is below. (Yes I know I am been very brave publishing this selfie- not my prettiest moment)

The bike crash, wasp sting and tummy bug are all pretty much mundane trials of life but since the sting has an element of ridiculous yet impeccable timing of been in the wrong place at the wrong time I will tell you more detail….

The sting itself happened as I was cruising down Sand Stone Rd minding my own business on my way home from my first decent ride back from the stomach bug.

Thinking pretty much at that exact point how lucky I was to be out on my bike again and getting back into the plan, when fate would have it a bee (doing apparently the same thing except on his Saturday morning adventure was heading up hill) and I collided paths. He into the meniscal little gap between the rim of my sunglasses and the top of my eye. I refuse to give the little fellow credit that he was feeling vindictive and had such good aim he did this on purpose and choose to presume that on that Saturday lunchtime he was just as unlucky as I was and his morning of exercise and adventure was just as abruptly interrupted as mine… Or should I say life plans as if he was a bee I was unfortunately it for him.

Putting my initial “you have to be kidding me” aside I mean seriously another sting? I pulled up and tried in vain to blindly scrap the sting out. A quick TX to Marc was sent to let him know what had happened alluding to the fact that I may need a pick up as I had limited time before it swelled to much and unsure if I had enough time to get home before the eye closed up. If my calculations were right I had just enough time.

So the rest of my ride that was originally all about “lets get home before the rain hits” became a race against how quickly my body would absorb and react to the bee venom.

As luck would finally have it I got home fine.

Some how though I was still in a bit of denial about the Impact of the little bee and I was frustrated to have yet another thing to deal with (but to my defence I had never had a bee sting in the eye before and I have never had a bee sting on top of a very recent wasp sting on top of a low immune system after been sick) and found myself the next morning despite the fact that my eye was swelled shut and I was one eyed and feeling very much less than my normal self, lacing up determined to get out for a run. With the stubborn mindset we all know too well as triathletes that I am finally healthy enough to do some real training and after the 2 weeks I have just had this little bee sting isn't going to interfere.... this coupled with rational that there are lots of people who have to run with sight in only one eye and they have adapted therefore I will be fine.

However one should be smart enough to mix their determined optimism with a slant of wisdom and realism and realise that perhaps those very talented and inspiring people who do run with sight in only one eye took the time to allow there bodies to adapt. And that since my body was not exploding with huge amounts of cortisol flight response, as my body was no longer in danger that it was not going to miraculously adapt and allow me to run as normal. Yes some of us are reluctant learners... Struggling to see out of my sunglasses on an over cast day but resigned to wearing them as was Sunday morning family hour at the park and I didn't want to scare any one I struggled through the weird phenomenon of trying to move somewhat quickly over varying terrain with majorly compromised depth of perception. After 50 mins of trying to kid myself that all was okay the kink in the neck from the unskilled tipping of the head on all angles to see with one eye what normally I can with 2 I gave up and headed home.

The run was not smart or brave ... just putting it out there, it made the swelling worse so I finally left my cloud of denial and feeling slightly defeated I headed off to the A & E to get some major anti histamines and antibiotics. The lovely Marc escorted me and reminded me to keep my glasses on so as to not scare anyone, him politely alluding to the fact that yes I really did look that bad.

So here it is week three was spent recovering from the combo of the sting and the harsh drugs. Which at the tail end of the last couple weeks took a while. And it is here that I had to allow myself to not accept defeat but to respect the power of the little things because in this case, although all events were unrelated the impact of each event had a compounding effect on my bodies ability to deal with and recover from each incident, making each progressive incident a lot more powerful then if it had been an isolated effect.

But that's the key isn't it really and my point and I guess the lesson learnt for me that I will take with me to help further build my ‘character’ ... Is that if the body can respond so negatively in 3 weeks with continual little slaps in the face from the world it has to work In the reverse. Just imagine the positive effect in 3 weeks  where the little things do go in your favour... And then another 3 weeks and compound that with another... So as I said believe in the power of consistency of the little things. And they will build something very powerful.

   

Transitions - goodbye to Wellington and welcome Pre

“I LOVE DI2”!!!!!! A few seconds later “just in case you didn’t quite hear me I LOVE DI2!!!!!!”

That would be the repeated words of good friend Andrew Smith as we rode the coast loop a couple of weekends ago. It was his first ride with his newly DI2 set up P5. It was to be unintentionally a Cervelo ‘Team ride’ I guess with the 3 of us (myself, Andrew and Marc) all on a Cervelo, and a long day but with my brand new Cervelo P3 I was outwardly laughing at Andrews excitement but inside I was like “hell Yeah DI2 rocks!!!!  I had been exclaiming the same words to myself for the last few weeks! I knew exactly how he felt today!!!

A few weeks a go I was absolutely stoaked to receive a new Cervelo P3 with a sponsorship from PRV NZ. Right from the very early days in Triathlon I had had my eye on the Cervelo as my ultimate bike. I was pretty naive coming into the sport of Triathlon and even though I was riding a Genius Cleo with tiagra gearing and was surrounded in Pinarellos, there were one or two Cervelos in my training group (courtesy of Craig Gregory aka Cream Puff and Janelle Rennie) that really caught my eye and from that point on if I was ever asked what bike I would pick out as my dream bike my answer has always been a Cervelo.

So when I was offered the opportunity to ride a new Cervelo P3 I was obviously sooooo excited! But then within that excitement I felt a very unexpected and sudden twinge of guilt and hesitancy…  Wellington... what about Wellington?

Craziness! I hear you exclaiming, you’re getting to ride a brand new Cervelo!! Then maybe a question of who is Wellington? Is running through your mind?

Wellington was my trusted 2-wheeled training partner, a 2010 Scott plasma, whom I have spent endless hours with over the last few years. So my question was is it okay for me to just ditch my training partner like that? Followed then by a sudden embarrassed feel of ... It’s just a bike.... I was so excited about the opportunity to ride such an amazing new bike not to mention the chance to get a better set up on it. But it’s true I can't deny it with the hours I have spent with Wellington I felt a bit sad about upgrading and moving on. I have no idea how a jockey goes from one horse to another.

Wellington

I am sure I am not the only one who personifies their bike. I mean its not like we dare talk about it much but we as triathletes do spend a heck of a lot of time alone on the bike and I am sure there are at least a few of you out there (probably more than will willingly admit) that do or have at least gone as far as giving there trusted 2 wheeled training partner a name.... I can think of a few off the top of my head and I reckon you know who you are :)

I have had my black and yellow plasma 10 Scott since the end of 2011. I will be honest it was not my preferred bike with a colour scheme of black and yellow, and me been very much a lover of the colour blue, but it was a very fast/ good bike within my price range, that was my size and since I was in desperate need of a bike to replace my broken Argon, I took it. It didn’t take long for me to warm to her (yes my Scott was a girl) and I decided the colour wasn’t so bad either considering it was the city of Wellington’s colour scheme and would then give me a reason to call her Wellington without revealing to obviously my die hard fan attitude and admiration for Chrissie Wellington which is whom the bike was officially named after.

Wellington was my very first full carbon bike and although we had a few issues to start with in terms of slipping seat posts and set ups I was in absolute heaven riding her. I had no idea as a relatively new rider what an amazing feel it was to ride a carbon bike compared to an alloy frame. I had always scoffed at the carbon bike thinking of it as a fancy but not necessary option, but wow how naive and wrong I was! Considering the hours I was in the near future to spend riding her on our NZ roads which for those non kiwis reading this are not known for there smoothness! I was saved a huge amount of rattling and I was really happy I had made the swap!

Over the next couple years Wellington and I were to become great training partners and ended up traveling all over the world to train and race, and believe me when its just you and your bike and your feeling pretty shattered and isolated and a very long way from home, its kind of nice to feel like your 2 wheeled training partner as more of your companion, with you through thick and thin, through the fast days and the not so fast days, the highs and the lows...fronting up to race day, always ready to roll...

So I had a mixed bag of excitement and unease when the new bike showed up almost like I couldn’t act to excited as I didn’t want to be disrespectful to Wellington, but…. I was to find my feelings of unease to be very quickly forgotten as soon as I rolled out the driveway on the P3 to be exact.

Pre

It officially took one ride around the block, which is literately 400m for me to be sold on the new bike. Wow wow and wow is all I can say! I thought carbon was carbon but this bike was the smoothest ride I have ever ridden and even though my set up was pretty slammed and aero I felt completely comfy right from the first few pedal strokes. No more remorse for the loss of Wellington this bike had everything, it was the right size for me, it was compact and light it had DI2 and Magura Breaks, it was ridged yet smooth… It was like going from driving my Nissan Pulsar to a BMW… come to think of it the only BMW I have ever driven was none other than Craig Gregory’s the famous Cream Puffs as well! Obviously a man of taste.

I am not a technically minded person, for me as a Pilates instructor and athlete its all about how the body feels and moves so I cant rave on about the mechanics of this aspect and that of the bike that I think are amazing and I am not going to pretend that I can. What I am going to say is that this is a top of the line bike with an amazingly smooth ride. Its so much easier to handle on descents and is so much lighter for climbing then my old bike yet its solid enough that you really feel like you can get the power up and slice through the air on the flats. I originally felt no need to get DI2 on a bike but now I have it I am as I presume Andrew is ‘in LOVE’ with my DI2! It has taken changing gears to a new level of smoothness and I find because it’s so easy to do that I am more efficient with my gear changes. It so easy you just press the button!

So all raving aside, I guess I now have to complete my story with the proper introduction of my new Bike, Yes ‘she’ has a name, It was a very long solo coast loop that helped me pick her name. Yes again the new bike has already done 4 coast loops in the 4 weeks I have owned her!  

So training details aside here goes… drum roll please. “I would like to officially introduce ‘Pre’ my new and very cool P3” I don’t expect many of you to know why I have chosen, that name except maybe a few of my American based running friends, and to be honest I don’t care, its personal, but know that it will be of huge inspiration to me as I continue my journey of professional triathlon racing with the company of Pre.

Challenge Melbourne 2014

Wow! can i firstly say what an awesome experience it was to fly Emirates for the first time! -Huge comfy seats with amble leg room
-great selection of new release movies
-Gluten free meals! (What a great concept for an airline to actually serve gluten free meals when they say they can and not to just get a blank stare and a blatant "no Mam we don't serve gluten free meals even though i know your travel agent has called the airline and pre-booked you one and i see it on your itinerary.....")
- no excess luggage charges for my bike

......... oh and did i already mention no charge for my bike.... ? Yip brilliant airline all round..... Enough said!

Needless to say we arrived happy in Melbourne despite the fact that it was super late Aussie time and I am sure in the early wee hours of the morning NZ time and were very relived to finally make it to our motel and into bed!

I knew as soon as I woke up the next day and first ventured out on the bike and found that we were right across the road form the beach and only a couple kms away from Transition that this race was going to fun! the roads were smooth ( compared to NZ Roads at Least !) and a rolling a 3 lap course out and back alongside the Brighton coast. My legs felt good, Wellington ( my bike) was rolling smoothly in Marc's Profile wheels and i started to grin- it was my kind of bike course and I was excited to get out there sunday and race!

Pre race prep was going well and even though I had struggled with recovery post Ironman Auckland 70.3 I now felt rested mentally and physically and was excited to get out there.

 Predictions were for major heat and cautions were been advised along with a shortened course for those who didn't feel confident or motivated to do the whole Half in the heat. It was going to be a hot one, but as far as i was concerned yes it was going to be tough but I didn't care as long as it wasn't cold i was good to go!

Saturday pre race went near perfect and I was all tucked up in bed for an early 8pm sleep when an eruption of sound suddenly invaded our quiet secluded apartment flooding it with music...... your kidding me i thought as i realised the reality of my relaxing pre race sleep disappearing fast as really you cant really complain and get music turned down at 8pm because who in the real world would understand that ..

so ear plugs in and trying to find mind happy place amongst the 'doff doff' beats we got through the night as at 10.15pm Marc went down and managed to get the music turned down, huge relief!

Despite the shortened night as the norm on race morning I couldn't wait to get out of bed at 3.15am and let the day begin. To be honest though not sure if its the excitement of the race or the anticipation of real coffee after half a week of caffeine deprivation that is the strongest lure out of bed!

It was still  dark out when i headed down to transition to set up , but the roads were alive with fellow triathletes arriving and Transition was full of the familiar pre race 'Buzz' as I set in and got ready. I was just about to leave and go warm up when a lovely official waltzes  in and calls out "no wetsuits, its a non wetsuit swim for all of you PRO's" - Crap and a few other less desirable words flashed through my mind as i am sure all of you non water babies whom the wetsuit is there  best friend on race day would associate with.
Some serious self talk went on as I told my inner self to 'calm down it was the same conditions for every one'  and that 'I couldn't do any thing about it so just deal with it' and the likes as I visualised my speed suit hanging in my closet at home in NZ -yip the one that didn't make it into my bag when packing Thursday!

However Marc was to be on form this morning and to the rescue as he raced up to the not yet opened expo tents and managed not only find someone willing to help us but talk them down to a great deal on a Scody speed suit so by the time my transition was set up I had a suit ready and waiting. Always a risk to wear something new at this point in the race prep but as a bike runner in a smaller pro field  I didn't really have a choice I needed all the help I could get and to be honest the suit fitted perfectly and felt amazing!

So decision made i ventured off into the dark to warm up and wow my legs felt fantastic ! Apart from the nagging fear that I may come across a snake and continually watching my step I was getting more amped for the race the closer the start time ticked!

When I met up with Marc to get my speed suit on he had my wetsuit out and Johnny Polson was with him sitting in his wetsuit. "What's going on? " I asked? Marc looking very chuffed said he had managed to find the race rules in regards to water temp and the cut off was 23 degrees and the official had her reading at 22.8 so he had challenges her decision  and she had to back down. So it was then a start line with every pro opting for the wetsuit! Hmm think I should try and take Marc to all my races! Nice to have someone watching my back like that:)

It was a beach start and it was kinda nice getting to wait on the beach for the delayed start rather then treading water I lined up next to Annabel and her shadow Caroline that is until at the last minute Annabel did a sneaky shift to the opposite side of the start line and Caroline trying to act casual slinked off to follow her.... I guess her race plan was becoming obvious!  As the gun went off and we all took off in to the mill pond of an ocean I was stoaked to get a great start and settle into a good position. However with the smaller pro field with the likes of Annabel leading out, we spread out quickly and I got onto the feet of a girl but as we turned the first buoy and made our way towards the next with the ocean rolling a bit we both lost there group in fronts feet and it was just us. I didn't feel great on the swim but was putting the effort in and staying in contact, that is until the age group men came around us on the second to last buoy and I lost the girl in front amongst the chaos. After having such a great swim at Ironman Auckland this swim seemed to drag on for ever and the reality of the men catching us meant our time was obviously not going to be stunning.

So I exited the water a bit down on the next girl but she was in sight. So the swim didn't go to plan but I was excited to get on that bike course and backed myself on making up the gap on the girls in front.

I was borrowing a new helmet for the hotter conditions and as I put it on the attached visor was completed fogged up and I couldn't see a dammed thing. So I must have looked really onto it when I started riding with my helmet tipped so far up my head so I could see out the bottom of the visor that all aero dynamics would be rented useless! But lessened learned it soon cleared and I tucked in and headed out. Legs felt good and the power was coming easily all the tell tale signs of a good ride were there! I settled in my rhythm and just got the legs ticking over and focussed on riding my ride and just trusted that the gap would close.
It was a brilliant rolling course with only a slight cross wind. The first two laps were okay traffic wise but as I came into the third lap I was swallowed  up by a pack and had to sit up and let them all roll pass.

I was still sitting in 7th at this stage and 3 mins down on the next pack of girls so I put my head down and dug in to catch up them. It was a bit of a frustrating last lap with a lot of matches been burned power wise trying to out ride past the pack and get out of the mess but in the end I just sat up and let them go as I could not once passed stay in front and my attempts were only killing my legs and only splitting them up temporally. Feeling a little discarded and frustrated i was very surprised to pass 6th place as neared the end of lap 3 and see 5th place still in transition as I arrived. Marc was there yelling at me that 4th and 3rd had only just left T2 and that I had rode myself right up into the mix! Brilliant!

Transition was quick and smooth and as I headed out my grin was getting bigger as my legs felt great and I was naturally just settling into a good rhythm and turnover was great. 5th was still ahead but only just and I was gaining without consciously trying to. I kept telling myself not to rush the pass as once I had made it i wanted to keep it so I had to be in control of the effort so I could sustain it.

I had felt flat and lost it mentally in Ironman Auckland and for some reason not had my normal strength to "race" the girls and fight for my position on the run. SO my goal was to stay on top of it mentally and stay in the game today  and I did.......the pass came easily and as we headed up the first hill and onto the sandy off road part of the course I could see for myself how close 4th and 3rd were. Brilliant ....... That is except for the fact that suddenly my legs were starting to get really heavy and sluggish and I was loosing my turnover quickly. Dam it.

The run course was hillier than I expected which should have played into my strengths but I guess In riding the second fastest bike split i had burned too many matches and and I was now paying for it. So despite my frustration I managed to stay positive and focussed and I absolutely gave it my best however i didn't  have the leg strength today and I had nothing to respond when at the half way point i was passed for 5th and was not able to make up any ground on the girls in front.

It was a 16km race in survivor mode and i was just relived and thankful to get to get to the finish. It was 36 + degrees and my legs had nothing left. Gutted to have been been in the mix coming into to the run and to have rode so well, and then loose it on the run. But i was stoaked as well as the main areas i wanted improve on from the Auckland Race I had and i was still finishing 6th in a very strong field, still in the money. I had held it together mentally on a day that my body was not quite there for.

Always a blessing to cross the finish line on days like that and to be greeted by the very cute little kids placing the medals around your neck, and of course the ice baths and awesome post race feed station !!

Huge Congrats to Annabel, Caroline, and Rebecca, for the podium spots!

Challenge Melbourne is a fantastic course and event and I would definitely head back there next year to do race again.

Over all its been a great 7 weeks of racing here in NZ for me coming out with 3 solid
 performances. I still don't think I have nailed the race that i am capable of yet and really been able to express the improvements i have been making in training with my new coach but I know I am close to it so after a week off this week its back into it, re tweaking the training and building from what I have learned in this last race period.

Its early in the year and although January has kind of been tail ended  into my 2013 season. I am excited about the space I am in and looking forward to the year ahead- Bring it on!!!

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.

  

The Missing Photos from Texas Blog!!!

Here are the photos missing from my last blog post!

         My awesome home stay family in Texas, Andy and Heidi Wilson and the beautiful Kitten MR!

Ironman Buffalo Springs 70.3

Ironman Buffalo Springs 70.3

10th PRO---- 4hrs 42min----

I have heard many travellers say that sometimes its purely the people they meet in places that makes them special and will draw them to return...... for me Lubbock Texas is now one of these places.

In amongst the mass expanse of flat land that Texas is, down in an unexpectedly beautiful canyon is the home of my amazing home-stay family, Heidi and Andy Wilson and there 2 sons. They welcomed me into there home and made me instantly feel like I was amongst family despite the fact we had only just met. So even though my race was not the break through I was planning on with there support and friendship the whole experience was a success.

To be honest I picked Buffalo Springs 70.3 for the course, its accessibility to Boulder and for the past start-lists as a race that would be a true challenge but podiums would be in reach. However this year turned out to be the strongest PRO female and male fields ever assembled in the 24 years of the race history. Similar to the quality of the Asia Pacific champs in Auckland, if not stronger. However despite this change in the depth of the field I was still eager to race and get in amongst the top competition.

Training had been going really well up in Boulder and I was loving the opportunity to train full time and train with a great group of mostly Kiwi athletes, specifically Jo Lawn and Armando who had taken me under there wing and been really helpful with training and altitude adjustment advice. I was tired going into the pre race week as had had 2 solid weeks of training but was confident that my body would adjust to the taper week and recover in time for Sundays race.

I had been super prepared for the tough conditions and heat that are tradition for this event and was determined not to suffer the cramping I had in Hawaii. However another break in tradition occurred for this race with very mild Texas temps in the 30's for the entire race which was welcomed by everyone I am sure!

I had not slept well at all  pre race but still woke up excited and ready to race, with the promise of great race conditions and the opportunity that lay before me i was really looking forward to the day ahead. My home-stay very graciously let me choose the pre race music in the car ride to transition and so with my favourite pre race song blearing race energy was ramping up.

The swim was near perfect with a mill pond calmness despite the winds on the flatlands above and with a beach start I got off to a great start. I was with the main group at the first turn and then settled again at the front of the back group of girls as the field spread out. I didn't feel great in the swim but kept things consistent and came out in a PB swim just behind another girl who at the end of the day came in 4th place.

It was great to get out on the bike and after the first few hills were done my legs started to feel pretty good so I settled in to make up the ground lost in the swim. Although I enjoyed the bike course it ended up been a very solo day and I spent the whole ride pretty much in no mans land except for a few glances at the field at some of the turnarounds. I tried to keep my head in the game and keep trying to make up some time but it looked like a long line of girls in front and to far in front obviously for me by myself to get onto the train.

I came into T2 feeling pretty good, a bit disappointed to have not made the gains I normally would on the bike but had felt like I had ridden well with in myself and figured the next girl was only a good days run ahead and still within reach.

So i got a bit of a shock to find that my legs felt heavy and tired as I ran out of transition. I told myself to not panic and just ease into the first couple miles that my legs would return, however as the miles ticked over and my legs continued to feel like i was lugging an extra few kg's of luggage on each leg the reality of the day started to sink in that i was not going to be able to catch the girls unless some one severely broke down.

 As I ran along Energy Lab 2 road I could see the girls in front on there way back from the turn around and apart from the leader they were all relatively close to each other... just too far away for me at the pace my legs were putting out. I switched off from that fact and dug in and made myself just keep chugging along and thankfully.....finally !!! at mile 8 my legs started to free up and i began to pick up my turn over and i felt the relief that one feels when your legs remember how to run and you can finally feel like your a runner again. I dug in and made the most of the last 5 miles that I could, trying desperately to salvage the damage to my race that the first 8 miles had created.

I ran home as fast and as strongly as I could not dearing to dwell on the questions that my mind was threatening to linger on....... why why did it take 8miles to feel like this ......... If only my body had sprung into action earlier............ I refused to dwell on these nor think to much incase my legs reverted back to the pace of the first 8 miles in anarchy of my ungratefulness. These were questions to be shelved and asked only when once the finish line was crossed.

It was hot and getting hotter and my right foot was burning. Yet despite this I held onto the relief i was running...... running freely and surged on the adrenalin of the familiar cheers and comments of surprise at someone running well near the end of the race. Which I now know I sub consciously feed off as a driving force to push harder and firmer, without these in my sluggish state I had felt lost .......

Once I crossed the line the relief that one feels when the distance has been accomplished was quickly overwhelmed as the previously shelved questions came flooding in. I didn't know my time but knowing it was not where it could have been and quite lost as to the reasons why I  headed straight for a small place in a corner of shade to take in and deal with the ambush of emotion and thoughts.

My legs and body once the line was crossed and the effort button released felt good but why when they felt so terrible for such a large part of the run..............

I guess the great part of been amongst such a good circle of people even when so far from home is that you can  only allow your self a short time to question and then you have to absorb and celebrate with those around you, those new friends and fellow competitors for there success and accomplishment and hold onto all the facts not just the hard ones.

Those been that I had beaten the cramps of Hawaii, that although I had not ridden nor run as well nor as fast as I know I could I had still managed to pull out a top 10 place in very strong deep international field. That I had held it together and not checked out even when my body felt like it was not going to show up to meet the challenge. Nothing went wrong nor badly, my body for what ever reason just didn't fire to its full capacity.

So that is the challenge that now lies ahead I have 5 weeks till my next race the Boulder 70.3 on August 4th and more than enough time to make the changes needed to get the body to show up fully in another stacked field on Aug 4th........

As I said in my last race review its ONWARDS AND UPWARDS and I am still on that pathway ........I have still gained some ground..............the hill was just a bit steeper than I planed for and it may take a bit longer  than I originally thought............It maybe a bit disheartening and very frustrating........... but its not so steep that I wont make it to the top.

........In the constant battle that dwells within the river ....between the water and the rocks.......... the water will always win..... not due to brut strength ....but to pure perseverance.........











My Home-stay family and there youngest family member....MR

*****Congrats to Andy and Heidi on there great racing on the weekend too! *********