Rotorua Half Ironman - race report

What an end to a very busy (and very very tiring) few weeks. It all started 3 weeks ago with 160kms of cycling around Lake Taupo, followed the next weekend by an Olympic Distance Triathlon, one weekend of final training, to end with a very tough Half Ironman day.

We drove down to Rotorua and stayed in a really great log cabin at a camp ground on the outskirts of Rotorua. Went to registration, got the bits we needed, and left! I have to admit that I really wasn't looking forward to racing at that stage. I was tired, I was negative, and I just wasn't in the mood. We loaded up on the usual pre-race meal of pasta, organised a million bottles (Paul was doing the cycle in a team, so there was lots of mixing of the usual potions going on), packed up gear into race bags/ boxes etc.. and went to bed. This was the first sleepless night I have had before an event in a very long time!!! I felt like crap when the alarm went off at 4.30am - why do I do this again???????

Paul nicely informed me that I might want to roll over and go back to sleep because it was raining. Great, my already negative mood was going downhill fast! At 5.00am we headed out to the Blue Lake. It felt like a bit of a death march really - the looming day was just not sitting great with me at all. I felt like I just needed a holiday, not a Half Ironman! Luckily when we got to the lake it hadn't even rained there, so that was the first hurdle dealt with. There was lots of talking going on inside the head, reminding me that I just had to get through the race, and then I could have the next 2 weeks recovering, doing Xmas, not working, and not much training going on either!!! Just ONE MORE DAY......

So, into transition, sort out the gear, and then Steve the sponsor from Alpe Gear finds us. With his PHOTOGRAPHER - "don't mind him" he says, "just go about doing your thing and he's going to take some pictures". It actually bouyed my mood I have to say - I felt very important standing around in transition while some guy lay all over the place and got into all kinds of picture taking positions. I'm sure all the people that were parked up around me wondered who the hell I was!!!! Thanks to Steve and his photographer (sorry, the name escapes me now), you actually turned my negative mood around!

WOMANS SWIM START

After getting all set up, we headed down to the start line for briefing, to hear the gun go off for the men to start - oooops missed the race briefing, but so did heaps of men, who all started flying down the road and running into the water to catch up with the rest of the field who were already heading out towards the first bouy. Luckily the woman had 5mins to go, so I zipped up my suit and dived in to get wet and ready - stupidly I forgot to do up the top flap around my neck so water streamed down my back and filled the suit. I had to get out to empty it. All good, no time for worrying about it, and off we went. The swim was LOVELY. Nice fresh water, beautiful temperature, one very long stretch out and then back - got into my own patch and just swam. No jellies to worry about, or other dreaded sea creatures! 38:31 later for 2kms, and I was pretty happy with the first bit. The photographer chased me up the beach and snapped every little bit of my awful transition from swim to bike - I hate that transition the most. There is so much to remember, putting stuff into pockets, clothes to put on and swim gear to take off...... it always seems to take me AGES!! Finally I got organised and it was onto "that stupid bike

SWIM TO BIKE TRANSITION

"That stupid bike" lived up to its name too. The first 70kms were fine. Managed to do alot of 90rpm spinning in the flat parts on the aerobars, and then grovel my way up any hills that came along. Steve and the photographer went for a drive to find us, so he was hanging out the window taking pictures - now I know what it fees like to be followed by the paparazi.... hahaha..... They were at the turn around on the bike too, and it was really nice to see familiar faces out there. Back towards the Blue Lake and up the dreaded Hells Gate hill, to find 2 more familiar faces from Tauranga half way up cheering everybody on. It sure made that hill alot easier knowing I had to put on a good show. However, my luck kinda ran out there. Not long after reaching the top of Hells Gate, I punctured! My first one ever in a race. I got off the bike and was shaking so much I could hardly hold the bike let alone change a flat. Thankfully the friends who had been standing on the hill were now heading for the finish line, so they stopped and changed it for me while I caught up on my nutrition which had gone a little bit haywire! Thanks heaps Mark and Sally - you are awesome in every way!!!!! Back on the bike I knew the tyre wouldn't be so pumped up and hoped it would last the final 20kms. I was carefully trying not to ride through glass etc. Then it rained - no it poured!! I had to take my glasses off as I couldn't see. It didn't last long, but enough to soak me.

I finally got to the last hill - Tarawera Road, back to the Blue Lake, is just a killer. It is steep, reasonably long, and being towards the end of 90kms, it's just hard. However, my luck ran out again half way up, and my tyre was now flat again. I was tempted to just pump it up and carry on, but I had no idea if it was going to get 100mtrs or the whole way, so I changed it. So, I have finally changed a tyre in a race. It's always been something that has terrified me, but now that I have done it, it has taken away the fear - that's one positive to take from it I guess. But as I watched more people pass me, I knew I was now way way back in the field - I'm normally fairly way down, but not THIS far down. I thought about just giving in and calling it a day, my biggest dread doing events has always been coming last. But, quitting wouldn't have made me feel any good either, so I decided to keep going.

However, to add to the growing list of crap happening on "the stupid bike", I must have knocked my gears somehow when I was changing the flat. When I started off again up the rest of the hill the chain kept slipping out of the easier gears, so I had to use harder gears than I would have normally. Then, when I was coming down the final hill to the transition, my chain came off. I wasn't stopping to put it back on as I knew the rest of the ride was all downhill, but I had to cruise down it rather than fly down it, just in case the chain got caught in the wheel! So, all in all "the stupid bike" just enhanced it's reputation. My bike computer says I did 3hrs 44mins, but the results say 4hrs 10mins - so that equates to 26mins for both transitions and 2 puncture repairs - not too bad I guess considering!!!!!

ONE MORE LAP OF THE LAKE TO GO

For once I was actually relieved to be running. The weather was great. Warm, overcast, not much wind - perfect. The run starts with one lap of the blue lake, which includes single track bush trails, and is just lovely. It then goes down a long gradual hill to Lake Tarawera with abit tacked on the side for extra distance, to then return up the hill, back through the finish, and around the Blue Lake again. My main aim was to run as best I could, stopping for brief walk periods when needed, and not grovelling to the end. This was exactly what I did. I felt great (probably because I found coke on the aid stations and LOVED it), I walked on the odd occasion, but made sure I kept a good pace going through those bits, no longer than a minute at a time, and it worked. I even ran the whole way back up the big hill to the lake lookout without stopping once - that was probably the biggest achievement of the race for me. I could hear my coach's voice in my head - "keep straight and tall, small fast steps, and drive the arms"... it worked too - there's a reason I pay her money.... My final run time = 2hrs 36mins 25secs

YAY I FINALLY FINISHED!!!!!

So, after a long hard day that kind of had a bit of everything thrown in for good measure, I finished the race in 7hrs 25mins & 37secs. Not the time I wanted, but I was pretty happy to have just finished it. The swim was great, the bike sucked big time, but the run was superb.... not my fastest in a Half Ironman, but certainly the best in terms of execution (oooooh, big word).

Back to our camp ground for a soak in some absolutely sweltering hot pools, and then a swim in the semi heated pool to cool off, and some of the aches were starting to ease. We went out to dinner with my coach and her hubby who also competed. It was Paul's birthday which we just completely forgot about - sorry honey, but you forgot too, so I can't feel too bad. It worked out ok though, because at the prizegiving (which is just a ripper of an event and must be experienced), he won a spot prize just because it was his birthday. A weekend away in Taupo for 2 nights - doing some sort of triathlon training???? - the details are a little sketchy because Hooksie had had a few, so an email to his lot will sort that out hopefully. The highlight of the night definitely had to be the chorus of "You've lost that loving feeling"..... it's a long story as to how a hall full of triathletes ended up singing that song, but they did, it was awesome, and a definite winner in my book. Well done to Hooksie and his crew for delivering another fun event and great entertainment to boot.

Thanks to Steve and the photographer for getting me out of my blahs so early on. Congrats also to Graeme & Kieran - I hope you guys enjoyed your race, and am looking forward to being out there with you at Ironman.

I am now having a 2 week break from training - just a couple of things thrown in here and there to keep the body ticking along, but other than that - NOTHING... I must say I wasn't really looking forward to the time off. It feels like I should be out there doing more, not less, but after the lack of enthusiasm for the race I experienced on Friday, I can see I need it. I have been going full steam ahead every week since March, apart from one, so it is definitely deserved. Don't expect to hear much from me over the next 2 weeks - have a great Xmas and enjoy your holiday period. Will be back with alot more stories to tell in January as the last 8 weeks thunder by towards Ironman New Zealand on March 1st 2008......