The end is in sight!!! I started the week feeling a little tired after a very busy social weekend. My feet are on the improve and I have got some awesome K Tape for running. Lucky for me the only colour the physio had left was hot pink!! Goes with my race day out fit of course. For those who have never heard about K Tape it is a lighter tape that can be used instead of strapping tape. The stuff is marvellous. I don;t know if it is mental but all my runs since I have started using the tape have been pain free.
I did the Tuesday morning squad run at West End. I covered about 10.3km including 10 push ups every 5 minutes in an hour. Thankfully I had my lovely Ironman buddy Krista to chat with as we ran along the river. Krista has just completed her first IM at Port Macquarie and she has been great to bounce last minute race day tips off. Something that Krista said to me at training which I think is a great thing to keep in mind on race day is "don't worry about what other people are doing on race day and what time you are doing, it is your race not theirs and it is your box to tick". It is often difficult on race day to not get consumed by what others are doing. Feeling the need to speed up when passed on the bike, worrying about not achieving the magical goal race time, wanting to stack well against others in your age group and squad.
Because the training routine has become so much a part of my day to day life I have become a little blase about the commitment it has taken over the past 5 months to get through it all. It is my new normal!!! It is easy to forget that for most people the effort of even getting to the start line of your first Ironman race is an achievement in itself. This is something very important to remember what ever happens on race day.
I have found myself with lots of energy to burn this week. I have had 2 nights where I have been awake in the middle of the night. Clearly not having the same volume of training is impacting my sleep patterns. It is nice to wake and go to a training session through feeling like you have got some energy rather than that constant tired feeling. Unfortunately work has become very very busy so I have been diverting my extra time not training into work as I try to tie up some lose ends before I go on leave next week. Its Murphy's law that everything hits just as I am about to go on leave.
I finished the week with a solid windtrainer session on Friday morning ( the legs were a little sore after 15 x 3 min, hard efforts in the big ring. Then on Saturday morning I joined the squad for a ride out to Cleveland ( 85kms) including a social breaky afterwards. I always look forward to a chat, coffee and breaky after a ride!!
Sunday morning I only had to do an 1hr30mins. I set the alarm for 6:30am as I was meeting some friends for coffee. I thought to myself this is probably the first Sunday in the last 18 weeks where I haven't (a) been up at 5am, (b) ridden 4 plus hours or raced!! I happily rolled around the riverloop. One thing all this riding has done is given me a lot more confidence on the bike. Whilst I prefer not ride on my own and I am happy to also set out for ride on my own if I need to.
Me and my support team my hubby Brett
Belinda and Brett
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
3 Weeks- Almost there ( A week of over commitments)
It is hard to believe that I started the program in January and the last 17 weeks of my life has been devoted mainly to working and training.
The big ride last weekend has given me a huge amount of confidence going into the race. I think I had built the ride up to be something impossible ( I has some small doubts before hand, however I have proven to myself that I can ride 190km in much tougher terrain ( I hope) than the Cairns course and still feel ok running off the bike.
My feet are still giving me grief and I talked to coach Mark before my physio appointment on Tuesday. The physio has told me to run only every 2 days to give my feet some recovery. The main plan is to just get me to the start line. Whilst I am concerned about the fact my last long run was at Port Mac half IM 2 weeks ago, I am still managing about 20kms a week broken up over a few sessions ( much less than my usual 50km per week of running in the lead up to Port)
I water ran on Monday night instead of my usual 45min run and Mark suggested a 1.5hr ride to keep my legs strong in place of my usual long run Tuesday morning. Thankfully my feet settled down towards the end of the week and I got through my Thursday morning run with Robson with minimal pain.
Its not always possible to have the perfect training/work/life balance. We moved offices on Friday so I spent most of the morning lugging tea chest boxes around. I left work that afternoon with a sore back. I should have used my discretion and not been so quick to jump in when about 60 boxes needed to moved from in front off our filing cabinets so our team could be signed off the floor. I am the type of person who just does things without a second thought. The soreness in the back didn't go until the following Tuesday and I remember lying in bed Monday night thinking oh no I hope I haven't really hurt something in my back ( there goes 17 weeks of training and my race) I have found my mind starting to get carried away with worse case scenarios as a few niggles have appeared over the last weeks. Got to snap out of that!!
It was my Dad's 75th birthday on Friday night so my sister and I drove to Maleny and back for dinner. It was a lovely evening and I think he enjoyed himself. I didn't get to bed until nearly 11 then I was up at 5 to join the cairns group at the pool for the last long swim set. 3.5km with 1500mtrs paddles, I didn't feel great but I completed the set. I was struggling with the 1.5hr ride afterwards because I just felt so tired. There were no complaints when we turned back early as it started to pour with rain. We still did 1hr15min of the 1hr30min on the program.
Unfortunately I didn't have the rest of the day to laze around. I had organised a day the races/dinner for my sisters hens day so again didn't get to bed until nearly 11. It was a great day and so nice to see a number of friends who I hadn't seen for ages. My social calender will be full after the race as everyone wants to catch up!! I had a number of friends say how proud they were of me of have the courage to take on the challenge of doing the race. I hope to do them proud on race day!!!
I had agreed to met Jac E at 6am for our last 4 hour ride on Sunday morning The alarm went off at 5 and it was pouring rain outside. Jac texted and said should we do half then windtrainer. We agreed to met at the later time of 8 ( that gave me the much needed extra hour of sleep) Thanks Jac for being so understanding of my tiredness induced from over committing myself. Jac had already done an 1.5hrs on the windtrainer so after we rode to Manly and back I finished my 4 hours with a riverloop on my own. Whilst it would have been tempting to cut it short I am not one to dog out of my training. I think often the most important lessons you can learn in training is the ability to push through and not quit/cut short the session when things are tough because on race day quiting is not on available option if you want to see the finish line!!
The big ride last weekend has given me a huge amount of confidence going into the race. I think I had built the ride up to be something impossible ( I has some small doubts before hand, however I have proven to myself that I can ride 190km in much tougher terrain ( I hope) than the Cairns course and still feel ok running off the bike.
My feet are still giving me grief and I talked to coach Mark before my physio appointment on Tuesday. The physio has told me to run only every 2 days to give my feet some recovery. The main plan is to just get me to the start line. Whilst I am concerned about the fact my last long run was at Port Mac half IM 2 weeks ago, I am still managing about 20kms a week broken up over a few sessions ( much less than my usual 50km per week of running in the lead up to Port)
I water ran on Monday night instead of my usual 45min run and Mark suggested a 1.5hr ride to keep my legs strong in place of my usual long run Tuesday morning. Thankfully my feet settled down towards the end of the week and I got through my Thursday morning run with Robson with minimal pain.
Its not always possible to have the perfect training/work/life balance. We moved offices on Friday so I spent most of the morning lugging tea chest boxes around. I left work that afternoon with a sore back. I should have used my discretion and not been so quick to jump in when about 60 boxes needed to moved from in front off our filing cabinets so our team could be signed off the floor. I am the type of person who just does things without a second thought. The soreness in the back didn't go until the following Tuesday and I remember lying in bed Monday night thinking oh no I hope I haven't really hurt something in my back ( there goes 17 weeks of training and my race) I have found my mind starting to get carried away with worse case scenarios as a few niggles have appeared over the last weeks. Got to snap out of that!!
It was my Dad's 75th birthday on Friday night so my sister and I drove to Maleny and back for dinner. It was a lovely evening and I think he enjoyed himself. I didn't get to bed until nearly 11 then I was up at 5 to join the cairns group at the pool for the last long swim set. 3.5km with 1500mtrs paddles, I didn't feel great but I completed the set. I was struggling with the 1.5hr ride afterwards because I just felt so tired. There were no complaints when we turned back early as it started to pour with rain. We still did 1hr15min of the 1hr30min on the program.
Unfortunately I didn't have the rest of the day to laze around. I had organised a day the races/dinner for my sisters hens day so again didn't get to bed until nearly 11. It was a great day and so nice to see a number of friends who I hadn't seen for ages. My social calender will be full after the race as everyone wants to catch up!! I had a number of friends say how proud they were of me of have the courage to take on the challenge of doing the race. I hope to do them proud on race day!!!
I had agreed to met Jac E at 6am for our last 4 hour ride on Sunday morning The alarm went off at 5 and it was pouring rain outside. Jac texted and said should we do half then windtrainer. We agreed to met at the later time of 8 ( that gave me the much needed extra hour of sleep) Thanks Jac for being so understanding of my tiredness induced from over committing myself. Jac had already done an 1.5hrs on the windtrainer so after we rode to Manly and back I finished my 4 hours with a riverloop on my own. Whilst it would have been tempting to cut it short I am not one to dog out of my training. I think often the most important lessons you can learn in training is the ability to push through and not quit/cut short the session when things are tough because on race day quiting is not on available option if you want to see the finish line!!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Week 4- The big ride weekend
Photos from BTS Caloundra Ride 14/05/11
I think the previous weeks events at the half ironman caught up with me. I started the week feeling unmotivated, tired and generally over the whole training thing. I have to say this is probably the lowest point of my 20 weeks training to date. I just wanted the next 4 weeks to be over. To make matters worse work has been really busy.
I started to feel like I was coming down with a cold and left work on Monday night with a headache. I was in no frame of mind to do my 30 minute run. My feet were hurting and it was really cold. I also pulled the pin on my 2 hour run on Tuesday morning mentally I just couldn't do it. I was feeling guilty about skipping 2 training sessions in a row but I reminded myself I had done 90% of sessions to date. I also missed my Tuesday night swim.
Brett said to me you have only got 4 weeks left just push through.
I turned up to the squad ride on Wednesday morning in a slightly better state of mind. Mark asked how my long run had gone on Tuesday morning and I had to confess about my training meltdown. Despite feeling a bit more positive I had a shocker of a ride. We went up quite a steep street somewhere in Fig Tree Pocket. I was in the wrong gear I couldn't get unclipped in time or change down and came off. Lucky I only took a bit of skin off my knuckle no other harm done. After this mishap my thoughts turned to the 190km Brisbane to Caloundra ride on Saturday. I said to coach Mark are there any hills as steep as this? Do I need to get in the support car now? My mind started running overtime, I had been more scared of this ride than the Challenge Race Day. Was I going to make it. I didn't want to be the first BTS person unable to complete the ride. With this woeful display things weren't looking good!!
Finally Saturday morning arrived and it was time to start the much feared 190km ride. My GCTS buddy Berlinda who is also racing the full at Cairns caught a lift to the start with us. The main squad rode as far as Mt Mee with us. Pretty early on people were zooming past me however I realised that I had 120kms more than most people in the squad to ride so I needed to just take it easy. Berlinda and I kept each other company and chatted away. The ride up Mt Mee was quite nice. Once we hit the top of Mt Mee there was quite a bit of wind around, which made some of the rolling hills interesting as we were descending into a cross wind. I was hanging to my bike on occasions as I was being blown all over the place. Before too long we rolled into our first stop just outside Woodford. Our wonderful support crew Sarah H, Alicia and Brett were there armed with home baked muffins, chocolate cake and banana bread. How spoilt were we. They fed and watered us then sent us on our way. Coach Mark warned there were a couple of climbs heading our way between Woodford and Landsborough. Not long after turning off the Woodford road Berlinda got a flat. We had a couple of goes with gas canisters but soon we were on our way. The first real climb was about 10% gradient. It was fine. This stretch of the road is lovely and pretty soon we could see views of the Glasshouse Mountains and the coast, just gorgeous. At last we rode into Landsborough. Brett was waiting for us with supplies. I was a bit worried about the climb up the hill from Landsborough to Maleny. Brett said just peddle you will be fine. The climb was long and slow. In total about 5kms of climbing. Whilst I never felt like I had to get it off it was just a constant grind up the hill. I felt sorry for a Japanese man on a touring bike with fully laden panniers. I reckon it must have taken him about 3 hours to ride up as he seemed to be stopping every 500mtrs. I called out a cheery hello as I rolled past.
Just before Maleny we turned off on the road to Montville. Whilst my parents live in this area when you are driving you don't take as much notice of the roads. We hit the first of 3, 10-12% gradient hills. Let me tell you these are not nice with close to 120kms of riding in your legs, but we pushed through before long our lovely support crew were there to meet us in Montville and then we only had other 10kms of hills before our decent down the range at Mapelton.
I am not very good on descents and I was so scared coming down the first part of the decent. The road is steep and full of pot holes. I was hanging on trying to keep my bike under control. On the last part of the decent I let it get away from me, my arms were fatigued and my bike started to get the speed wobbles ( my garmin clocked me doing close 70kms per hour on this part( I check this after I downloaded it at home). My mind was panicking and had visions of myself skidding along the ground. I was yelling at myself to calm down and keep it together. I remembered to hug the top tube with my knees to gain some stability. For once cars were considerate, I think they could sense my state of panic as I turned behind to see a row of 8 cars waiting patiently behind me and not one person had beeped!
The last 30 mins of the ride between Nambour and Caloundra seem to drag on but finally we made it. Not a world record but we completed the ride in about 8hrs 30mins ride time. I was lucky to have Berlinda along the way for company. We chatted and the day went so quickly. We had a 30 min run straight off the bike. Whilst I felt pretty crappy to begin after about 5 minutes I was into a nice running rhythm and think I will be ok for the run at Cairns once I get out there. It was so nice to run along the water at Caloundra. There were 7 of who had rode that day and we all had pizza for dinner and a few well earned treats of ice cream and chocolate pudding ( care of Kristen) and recounted of stories from the day of riding. It was a huge mental boost to get through the day and it has given me the confidence to know that I will get through Cairns as the ride is unlikely to be as challenging. I am lucky to have such a great group of people to train with as we supported each other through the challenge of the weekend, it was great to see the sense of achievement on every ones faces as they finished the ride.
We had the unpleasant task of riding back to Brisbane, this time the flat way on Sunday morning. Another 85kms on the bike was the last thing we felt like. I couldn't get comfortable and even the smallest hills felt like 10% climbs. I think my butt will need at least a week to recover from the 280kms of riding I have done this weekend.
I think the previous weeks events at the half ironman caught up with me. I started the week feeling unmotivated, tired and generally over the whole training thing. I have to say this is probably the lowest point of my 20 weeks training to date. I just wanted the next 4 weeks to be over. To make matters worse work has been really busy.
I started to feel like I was coming down with a cold and left work on Monday night with a headache. I was in no frame of mind to do my 30 minute run. My feet were hurting and it was really cold. I also pulled the pin on my 2 hour run on Tuesday morning mentally I just couldn't do it. I was feeling guilty about skipping 2 training sessions in a row but I reminded myself I had done 90% of sessions to date. I also missed my Tuesday night swim.
Brett said to me you have only got 4 weeks left just push through.
I turned up to the squad ride on Wednesday morning in a slightly better state of mind. Mark asked how my long run had gone on Tuesday morning and I had to confess about my training meltdown. Despite feeling a bit more positive I had a shocker of a ride. We went up quite a steep street somewhere in Fig Tree Pocket. I was in the wrong gear I couldn't get unclipped in time or change down and came off. Lucky I only took a bit of skin off my knuckle no other harm done. After this mishap my thoughts turned to the 190km Brisbane to Caloundra ride on Saturday. I said to coach Mark are there any hills as steep as this? Do I need to get in the support car now? My mind started running overtime, I had been more scared of this ride than the Challenge Race Day. Was I going to make it. I didn't want to be the first BTS person unable to complete the ride. With this woeful display things weren't looking good!!
Finally Saturday morning arrived and it was time to start the much feared 190km ride. My GCTS buddy Berlinda who is also racing the full at Cairns caught a lift to the start with us. The main squad rode as far as Mt Mee with us. Pretty early on people were zooming past me however I realised that I had 120kms more than most people in the squad to ride so I needed to just take it easy. Berlinda and I kept each other company and chatted away. The ride up Mt Mee was quite nice. Once we hit the top of Mt Mee there was quite a bit of wind around, which made some of the rolling hills interesting as we were descending into a cross wind. I was hanging to my bike on occasions as I was being blown all over the place. Before too long we rolled into our first stop just outside Woodford. Our wonderful support crew Sarah H, Alicia and Brett were there armed with home baked muffins, chocolate cake and banana bread. How spoilt were we. They fed and watered us then sent us on our way. Coach Mark warned there were a couple of climbs heading our way between Woodford and Landsborough. Not long after turning off the Woodford road Berlinda got a flat. We had a couple of goes with gas canisters but soon we were on our way. The first real climb was about 10% gradient. It was fine. This stretch of the road is lovely and pretty soon we could see views of the Glasshouse Mountains and the coast, just gorgeous. At last we rode into Landsborough. Brett was waiting for us with supplies. I was a bit worried about the climb up the hill from Landsborough to Maleny. Brett said just peddle you will be fine. The climb was long and slow. In total about 5kms of climbing. Whilst I never felt like I had to get it off it was just a constant grind up the hill. I felt sorry for a Japanese man on a touring bike with fully laden panniers. I reckon it must have taken him about 3 hours to ride up as he seemed to be stopping every 500mtrs. I called out a cheery hello as I rolled past.
Just before Maleny we turned off on the road to Montville. Whilst my parents live in this area when you are driving you don't take as much notice of the roads. We hit the first of 3, 10-12% gradient hills. Let me tell you these are not nice with close to 120kms of riding in your legs, but we pushed through before long our lovely support crew were there to meet us in Montville and then we only had other 10kms of hills before our decent down the range at Mapelton.
I am not very good on descents and I was so scared coming down the first part of the decent. The road is steep and full of pot holes. I was hanging on trying to keep my bike under control. On the last part of the decent I let it get away from me, my arms were fatigued and my bike started to get the speed wobbles ( my garmin clocked me doing close 70kms per hour on this part( I check this after I downloaded it at home). My mind was panicking and had visions of myself skidding along the ground. I was yelling at myself to calm down and keep it together. I remembered to hug the top tube with my knees to gain some stability. For once cars were considerate, I think they could sense my state of panic as I turned behind to see a row of 8 cars waiting patiently behind me and not one person had beeped!
The last 30 mins of the ride between Nambour and Caloundra seem to drag on but finally we made it. Not a world record but we completed the ride in about 8hrs 30mins ride time. I was lucky to have Berlinda along the way for company. We chatted and the day went so quickly. We had a 30 min run straight off the bike. Whilst I felt pretty crappy to begin after about 5 minutes I was into a nice running rhythm and think I will be ok for the run at Cairns once I get out there. It was so nice to run along the water at Caloundra. There were 7 of who had rode that day and we all had pizza for dinner and a few well earned treats of ice cream and chocolate pudding ( care of Kristen) and recounted of stories from the day of riding. It was a huge mental boost to get through the day and it has given me the confidence to know that I will get through Cairns as the ride is unlikely to be as challenging. I am lucky to have such a great group of people to train with as we supported each other through the challenge of the weekend, it was great to see the sense of achievement on every ones faces as they finished the ride.
We had the unpleasant task of riding back to Brisbane, this time the flat way on Sunday morning. Another 85kms on the bike was the last thing we felt like. I couldn't get comfortable and even the smallest hills felt like 10% climbs. I think my butt will need at least a week to recover from the 280kms of riding I have done this weekend.
Week 5- Recovery Week- Kind of
I awoke on Monday morning after racing the half ironman feeling quite stiff. I couldn't even touch my toes not a great start to the week!! After a few stretches and some walking around things started to feel better. My mind kept on turning to the fact that I was racing double this distance in 5 weeks time. OMG
Despite burning a large number calories the previous day I really wasn't hungry but really wanted a nice breaky so forced myself to eat some eggs and salmon. Racing the long distance stuff is so different to Olympic distance or shorter races. Normally after these races you feel like eating the contents of the fridge but it seems the longer you race for the less you feel like eating.
We drove back from Port Mac on the Tuesday. 7hrs in the car plus a yummy bakery stop off at Woodgate and we were home. I struggled through a 30 min run that night but it was good to turn the legs over.
I met a few friends for a easy river loop the next morning. I was supposed to run Thursday morning but my plantar facititis has reared its ugly head again so I took the morning off.
I struggled through my 3.5km swim set and 1.5h run on saturday morning, the weather was turning cold and all the port mac ironman crew were no longer at the pool for company. Jac was away racing at Byron racing so I was all on my own!! Motivation levels were waning. I got up on Sunday morning at 5 for a riverloop before meeting the Reddog group for a ride to mountain cotton. It was nice to have the company for a few hours before another extended riverloop to rocklea and home. 141kms in 5hrs45 plus a 30 min run off the bike. I felt pretty good considering I had raced the half the previous weekend.
Despite burning a large number calories the previous day I really wasn't hungry but really wanted a nice breaky so forced myself to eat some eggs and salmon. Racing the long distance stuff is so different to Olympic distance or shorter races. Normally after these races you feel like eating the contents of the fridge but it seems the longer you race for the less you feel like eating.
We drove back from Port Mac on the Tuesday. 7hrs in the car plus a yummy bakery stop off at Woodgate and we were home. I struggled through a 30 min run that night but it was good to turn the legs over.
I met a few friends for a easy river loop the next morning. I was supposed to run Thursday morning but my plantar facititis has reared its ugly head again so I took the morning off.
I struggled through my 3.5km swim set and 1.5h run on saturday morning, the weather was turning cold and all the port mac ironman crew were no longer at the pool for company. Jac was away racing at Byron racing so I was all on my own!! Motivation levels were waning. I got up on Sunday morning at 5 for a riverloop before meeting the Reddog group for a ride to mountain cotton. It was nice to have the company for a few hours before another extended riverloop to rocklea and home. 141kms in 5hrs45 plus a 30 min run off the bike. I felt pretty good considering I had raced the half the previous weekend.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Week 6- Port Macquarie 70.3
I had an easy week leading up to my first half ironman race at Port Macquarie. In typical recovery week style I felt lethargic and like a blob every time I eat something. Every little niggle feels like a major issue.
I had a couple of 1.5h bikes early in the week before heading to Port on Thursday. I couldn't believe how much spare time on had on my hands this week and don't know how I will fill my days once the Ironman training stops. It was great to catch up with all the BTS crew and support the guys and girls doing Ironman. We had a great dinner on Thursday night everyone was looking calm and relaxed.
The squad did a 30 minute swim on Friday morning over the course. It was nice to get out and do something and try out the wet suit.
On Saturday morning we did 15 minutes each of swim, bike run. After a few coffees with friends it was finally time to rack the bikes. I think this was the moment the nerves set in for the first time. I had a period of about 3 hours where I didn't feel like eating. ( that is not normal for me) I just wanted to get in and race.
Race day finally arrived. We were up to see the ironman start. It always brings a tear to my eye watching the ironman start and the range of emotions you see people go through. All the BTS's were out of the water and it was time to get ready for our race start at 9:30.When I was in transition Craig Alexander was helping the lady 2 bikes up set up her kit. I was listening into his tips!! There was something very calming about listening to his voice, reel off some points to the lady. If I wasn't so pushed for time in transition I would have asked for a photo.
Finally it was time to get in the water. I was nervous it was my first mass start. I picked a slot about 5 rows back from the front. My goggles were filling with water but it too late now to do anything about it. Finally the musket went and we were off. After a mass of white water we were swimming and I got into a nice rhythm early on. The tow of the group was awesome I found a few feet and hips to swim off. The sun was right in my eyes on the way out so I couldn't see much. I managed to get tangled in the buoy ropes at the turn around point however I kept my cool in the swim. I was up and standing in 35 minutes I was very happy with my swim.
I found my bike, shoved in a Vegemite sandwich and then was off. I had my shoes already on my bike however was a bit all over the shop putting my feet it!! Despite doing it numerous times before.
Early on I realised the bike was going to be tough we had a brutal head wind bearing down on us all along the coast line. The first 10 kms or so out of town there a few hills and it was rough. My husband Brett caught up to me on the bike just as I was heading down Matthew Flinders Drive. It is a steep and winding street. I was like a granny on my brakes going down the hill. Next thing I heard him yelling at me look ahead where you want to go!!. I was running my new Zipp 404 race wheels, a couple of times coming down the hills the side wind caught my bike and blew me all over the place, I was hanging on nervously. It was a bit soul destroying looking down seeing my average speed sitting at 20kms/hour. I managed to stay down in my tri bars for most of the time and finally we were at the turnaround point. At last the wind was at my back and on the straight sections I was rolling along at 36kms/hour without to many dramas. About 5 kms out of town there was just one more challenging section on the bike course left. Matthew Flinders Drive a nasty hill. The hill was lined with supporters and few people choose the safe option of unclipping and walking up. I knew that was never an option for me after all coach Mark has had me on the Mt Cootha so I was ready to ride up this on tired legs. I finished the bike feeling good and no real aches. Bike time 3hrs11. All those hours on the bike are paying off.
Finally I was back in transition and putting on my runners. I shovelled a killer python in my mouth whilst I was putting my shoes on. This is where the stomach issues began. Almost immediately I had a stitch up under my ribs. I pushed through the first 5 kms of the run averaging about 5.40/km pace. In hindsight I probably went out a bit hard. Things got worse my whole stomach was cramping and I took my gels in but I just couldn't get rid of the stomach cramps. At one stage I felt like someone had punched me in the kidneys. I made the decision I was going to push through and was only going to walk through the aid stations. It was great seeing all the IM guys out on course and they all gave me inspiration during my run to push through. In total my run took 2hrs 24mins. I was a bit disappointed as I was hoping for closer to 2 hours because I had run the Gold Coast half in 1hr 56mins last year. However this was my first half and it was good chance to test my nutrition before the full at Cairns. I finished in 6hrs17 not quite the 6 hours I was hoping for but it was a tough bike and the run didn't go to plan but that is racing and to finish a half ironman is an achievement in itself. The half ironman needs to be given the respect it deserves it is not a walk in the park and is really quite different to Olympic distance racing.
I now have a couple of days off before the final push to Cairns!!
Me proudly displaying my finishers medal!!
I had a couple of 1.5h bikes early in the week before heading to Port on Thursday. I couldn't believe how much spare time on had on my hands this week and don't know how I will fill my days once the Ironman training stops. It was great to catch up with all the BTS crew and support the guys and girls doing Ironman. We had a great dinner on Thursday night everyone was looking calm and relaxed.
The squad did a 30 minute swim on Friday morning over the course. It was nice to get out and do something and try out the wet suit.
On Saturday morning we did 15 minutes each of swim, bike run. After a few coffees with friends it was finally time to rack the bikes. I think this was the moment the nerves set in for the first time. I had a period of about 3 hours where I didn't feel like eating. ( that is not normal for me) I just wanted to get in and race.
Race day finally arrived. We were up to see the ironman start. It always brings a tear to my eye watching the ironman start and the range of emotions you see people go through. All the BTS's were out of the water and it was time to get ready for our race start at 9:30.When I was in transition Craig Alexander was helping the lady 2 bikes up set up her kit. I was listening into his tips!! There was something very calming about listening to his voice, reel off some points to the lady. If I wasn't so pushed for time in transition I would have asked for a photo.
Finally it was time to get in the water. I was nervous it was my first mass start. I picked a slot about 5 rows back from the front. My goggles were filling with water but it too late now to do anything about it. Finally the musket went and we were off. After a mass of white water we were swimming and I got into a nice rhythm early on. The tow of the group was awesome I found a few feet and hips to swim off. The sun was right in my eyes on the way out so I couldn't see much. I managed to get tangled in the buoy ropes at the turn around point however I kept my cool in the swim. I was up and standing in 35 minutes I was very happy with my swim.
I found my bike, shoved in a Vegemite sandwich and then was off. I had my shoes already on my bike however was a bit all over the shop putting my feet it!! Despite doing it numerous times before.
Early on I realised the bike was going to be tough we had a brutal head wind bearing down on us all along the coast line. The first 10 kms or so out of town there a few hills and it was rough. My husband Brett caught up to me on the bike just as I was heading down Matthew Flinders Drive. It is a steep and winding street. I was like a granny on my brakes going down the hill. Next thing I heard him yelling at me look ahead where you want to go!!. I was running my new Zipp 404 race wheels, a couple of times coming down the hills the side wind caught my bike and blew me all over the place, I was hanging on nervously. It was a bit soul destroying looking down seeing my average speed sitting at 20kms/hour. I managed to stay down in my tri bars for most of the time and finally we were at the turnaround point. At last the wind was at my back and on the straight sections I was rolling along at 36kms/hour without to many dramas. About 5 kms out of town there was just one more challenging section on the bike course left. Matthew Flinders Drive a nasty hill. The hill was lined with supporters and few people choose the safe option of unclipping and walking up. I knew that was never an option for me after all coach Mark has had me on the Mt Cootha so I was ready to ride up this on tired legs. I finished the bike feeling good and no real aches. Bike time 3hrs11. All those hours on the bike are paying off.
Finally I was back in transition and putting on my runners. I shovelled a killer python in my mouth whilst I was putting my shoes on. This is where the stomach issues began. Almost immediately I had a stitch up under my ribs. I pushed through the first 5 kms of the run averaging about 5.40/km pace. In hindsight I probably went out a bit hard. Things got worse my whole stomach was cramping and I took my gels in but I just couldn't get rid of the stomach cramps. At one stage I felt like someone had punched me in the kidneys. I made the decision I was going to push through and was only going to walk through the aid stations. It was great seeing all the IM guys out on course and they all gave me inspiration during my run to push through. In total my run took 2hrs 24mins. I was a bit disappointed as I was hoping for closer to 2 hours because I had run the Gold Coast half in 1hr 56mins last year. However this was my first half and it was good chance to test my nutrition before the full at Cairns. I finished in 6hrs17 not quite the 6 hours I was hoping for but it was a tough bike and the run didn't go to plan but that is racing and to finish a half ironman is an achievement in itself. The half ironman needs to be given the respect it deserves it is not a walk in the park and is really quite different to Olympic distance racing.
I now have a couple of days off before the final push to Cairns!!
Me proudly displaying my finishers medal!!
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