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date: 26/08/09
Ironman NZ 2009
This year I forwent Coast to Coast for the first time in
as many years as I can remember – all to see if I could match it with some of
the big guns from the Ironman world. The past 3 months have seen quite a
different approach to training and the absence of Kayaking as I have instead
been in the water rather than on it.
My build up had gone really well barring a small bike on
car incidence where I unfortunately managed to crash into the back of a car,
scare the pijibers out of the occupant, collect an additional 14 stitches and
just for good measure a fair amount of bruising. The reality was I was extremely
lucky to walk away from the accident without any broken bones and I was also
fortunate that I was able to continue training in various forms almost right
away.
Race day hadn’t even dawned when it was time to hit the
water as the pro field this year was given a 15 minute head start over the age
group field. I was quite a strange sensation to be swimming around while it was
still dark and at 6:45am the hooter sounded and we were off.
I seemed to be going well for the first 100 metres (should
that be milli?) and was still surrounded by swing arms and kicking feet which I
figured must be a good sign. By half way down the first leg I was ever so slowly
drifting back through the main bunch but I was still hanging in there OK. I
ended up near the back of the main pack and was aware that there weren’t too
many signs of anyone close behind so I knew I had to hold on to this last pair
of feet no matter what. I was starting to feel more comfortable and was able to
see the pack right in front and settled in for the remaining couple of
kilometres.
Round the turnaround and everything still seemed OK until
I looked up and a gap was rapidly forming between the pack and the person who’s
feet I was swimming on. A few seconds later when I sneaked another look the gap
had grown exponentially and it was now clear water to the pack. I did my best
Ian Thorpe impersonation and tried to cross the gap – failing miserably in the
process I did at least manage to get around the swimmer in front and set about
getting to the finish of the swim as fast as possible.
The main problem is that fast and swim don’t really belong
in the same sentence if you’re talking about my swimming and without the benefit
of the age groupers coming through I was losing time at a drastic rate. When I
finally touched the shore and looked up I could have cried when I saw 56 minutes
on the clock – 5 minutes slower than last year and I was now almost 9 minutes
behind the front runners.
It was a hard run up to the change tent as I tried to
refocus on the task at hand and how I was going to get the best out of the
remainder of the race – after all there was still more than 7 ½ hours of racing
to go.
I headed out on the bike and it was good to get into some
work and feel like I was getting somewhere for the effort I was putting in. My
game plan had gone from hoping I’d be close enough to bridge up to the front
runners to a potential suicide mission to see how close I could get to them.
I was feeling good on the bike and it wasn’t long before a
more rational sense of reason returned and I tried to calculate how fast I could
ride and then expect to run and what I could expect from the guys at the front.
I slowly took some time out of the lead group and picked off all of the athletes
in between which kept the motivation high.
Into transition to the run and I’d ridden up to 6th and
was now 6 minutes behind Cam and 5 behind Terrenzo, They in turn were chasing
Dirk Bockel who was 5 minutes further up the road.
I got into the run quickly and the crowds were incredible
heading out on the first part of the run. I was feeling good on the run and
keeping a good pace so was surprised to hear I’d lost 3 minutes to Brown at 10
km as I went through well under 40 minutes. Back into town and I was rapidly
catching Steven Baylis and about 18km got past him and into 5th.
At 21 km I was still averaging 4 min kilometres and
feeling a lot more comfortable than last year although the legs were starting to
protest a little. Jan Raphel was 4 ½ minutes further ahead in 4th and I tried to
keep the legs turning over to give myself a chance of catching him if he slowed
in the 2nd half of the run.
I was slowly reeling Jan in and by the final turn around I
was only 2 ½ minutes down. I tried to keep digging deep but I was slowly losing
my pace and my legs were protesting loudly with every step. I had vivid memories
of last year when I was passed in the final 10km by 2 athletes and relegated
from 5th to 7th and I definitely didn’t want that to happen again. I was also
determined to run a sub 3 hour marathon so there was plenty of motivating
factors.
The finish was again a welcome relief. I stopped the clock
in 8 hour and 35 minutes and had again given it everything. I’m sure everyone
gets amazing support but it is an incredible feeling when everyone is cheering
you on by name and so many other athletes offered encouragement as we passed.
On reflection there were many positives about the race but
giving up so much time in the swim essentially put the podium out of reach. I
was happy that I was able to foot it with the top riders and still back up a
reasonable marathon although too really challenge for a win there is still
plenty of work to bring the run time down to sub 4 min km’s.
I’m still undecided on my future in Ironman. This race
answered many of my questions about whether I have the speed to do well in the
races. I believe once back on dry land things are shaping up well but the
swimming time was a big blow and I have to wonder about the merits of continuing
to invest so much time in it for so little results.
Now it is time to pull the kayak out and have some fun
while Elina and I plan our year ahead.
Thanks to everyone for their support on race day and to my
sponsors who make it possible
Subway
R&R Sport
Jamis Bikes
Kia Motors
Nike
Lionel Padial - One Flow swim coaching
Vittoria Tyres
High 5
Em’s Power Cookies
2XU Wetsuits
Speed play pedals |
