We didn't commute to work nearly as much as we should have last year, and we're intent on improving things this year. I've set myself a wee goal of 2011 miles in 2011 (shamelessly stolen from Mary), and given that I did around 1500 in 2010, I'll need to do as much extra bike mileage as I can without ruining myself!
An extended commute is a perfect way for us to combine working out with being green, saving dosh, and saving time. It's between 27 and 30 km each way, depending on the route, and it's a great course for a bit of a blat (wide, smooth, fast roads), so it's not just an excuse for a cruise- actually, it's great training for time trialling! Because it takes us about half an hour to drive in anyway, we get an hour of training for only half an hour of getting ready time. Awesome. There's seriously no better way to start the day! I mean it- it's better than brunch.
Today's two-way commute was particularly awesome. It started with a pb journey in, covered 70km in total, featuring some neat city intervals [i.e. having to mission up hills to get out of the way, and rushing to avoid missing the lights], and ended with quiet country roads and Subway for tea.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Eastside 5k: Haiku
I said I'd recap every race, but sometimes there's very little to say. Thank goodness for haiku:
One day every month
Racing is best avoided
Twenty five oh six
The end.
One day every month
Racing is best avoided
Twenty five oh six
The end.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Three types of recovery
Any new athlete will hear a lot about the difference between "active" recovery and passive, or rest-based recovery.
The week after my (fourth) Half Ironman, I certainly got a bit of both: some light cycling and running, plenty of day to day activity like wandering and hydrosliding, but also plenty of pure and simple R.E.S.T. TV watching, reading like a fiend, and a fair bit of race-recappage!
So, you'd think I had my recovery bases covered? And that I'd be raring to go when I got back into full training this week. Right?
Not quite.
For all my focus on combining active and passive recovery, I almost completely neglected one entire part of recovery: I'm going to call it "focussed" recovery, but please, please feel free to give me your own word. I'm talking about massage, compression gear, yoga, ice baths, foam rolling, stretching. You know what I mean.
It's not that I did nothing. I had a massage in Hamilton on Friday, 6 days post-race. I might have worn skins once, but it was SO hot, and so great to be roaming around in shorts. As I mentioned, thanks to my stupid inner thigh wound, I couldn't wear my quad sleeves- but I did try. A few half assed minutes stretching in front of the TV. I even spent a few minutes using Phil's evil trigger point toys (something I have now go Phil also referring to as "hurties").
But with NO work and 4.5 hours of training, I think I should have been doing a bit more- especially since I was recovering hard so we can get back up for the New Plymouth Half in 3 weeks' time. The return to training was harder on my legs than I expected, and I feel like I could have prevented that, to some extent, by being a bit more focussed on my recovery. Perhaps a couple of full trigger point therapy sessions (they're about 15 mins with a DVD). A couple of morning yoga sessions. More deliberate stretching.
Next time, I'll make sure I combine all three types of recovery!
The week after my (fourth) Half Ironman, I certainly got a bit of both: some light cycling and running, plenty of day to day activity like wandering and hydrosliding, but also plenty of pure and simple R.E.S.T. TV watching, reading like a fiend, and a fair bit of race-recappage!
So, you'd think I had my recovery bases covered? And that I'd be raring to go when I got back into full training this week. Right?
Not quite.
For all my focus on combining active and passive recovery, I almost completely neglected one entire part of recovery: I'm going to call it "focussed" recovery, but please, please feel free to give me your own word. I'm talking about massage, compression gear, yoga, ice baths, foam rolling, stretching. You know what I mean.
It's not that I did nothing. I had a massage in Hamilton on Friday, 6 days post-race. I might have worn skins once, but it was SO hot, and so great to be roaming around in shorts. As I mentioned, thanks to my stupid inner thigh wound, I couldn't wear my quad sleeves- but I did try. A few half assed minutes stretching in front of the TV. I even spent a few minutes using Phil's evil trigger point toys (something I have now go Phil also referring to as "hurties").
But with NO work and 4.5 hours of training, I think I should have been doing a bit more- especially since I was recovering hard so we can get back up for the New Plymouth Half in 3 weeks' time. The return to training was harder on my legs than I expected, and I feel like I could have prevented that, to some extent, by being a bit more focussed on my recovery. Perhaps a couple of full trigger point therapy sessions (they're about 15 mins with a DVD). A couple of morning yoga sessions. More deliberate stretching.
Next time, I'll make sure I combine all three types of recovery!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Recovery and skillz
Recovery
My recovery week was well and truly a recovery week- with only 4.5 hours' training, no work, and no travel I wondered what to do with myself! (the answer? housework and too much internetting)
We went out adventuring on Monday (to Raglan and Waingaro Springs), but otherwise stayed home, and mucked around in Cambridge and Hamilton. Phil worked Thursday and Friday, but didn't have as much on as he'd expected, so it was all pretty cruisy.
The legs stayed stiff well into Tuesday, but were loosened up by the steep walk down to the beach at Raglan, and running up the stairs to the hydro-slide at Waingaro. I had a massage on Friday, and have done a bit of trigger point therapy to get rid of residual tightness, mostly in my hips and lower calves. Sadly, I couldn't make the most of my new quad sleeves, due to the damage my saddle bag to my poor fat inner thigh!
I've now definitely got to that point where I'm itching to train again- right where I should be. Yesterday's 2k swim and today's 1:30 ride both felt great- strong and easy. I'm looking forward to getting back into it tomorrow, especially the running.
Skillz
I also decided to make use of recovery week for some bike skillz work. Not having ridden as a child (well, at least not since I was about 7) has meant I've always been a little behind when it comes to basic bike handling- it took me weeks to learn to stand up on the bike, , I couldn't drink on the bike for ages, and carried a camelbak on my first Half IM, and I sit my butt on my saddle before I clip my feet in, even at stop lights (oh, the SHAME)! Riding the MTB has helped, and I'm a million times for comfortable on the bike than I was in 2006-2008, but I still have a wee way to go.
But now that I have real tri shoes, I need to start working on real tri skillz, so I've set myself a goal of learning proper bike transitions in 2011. After our ride today, we decided to head to the polo grounds (we kept off the proper horsey grass) to give it a go! I took my camera thinking "yay, I'll have something to blog about", but when we got there it was flat. Which is a great pity, as this would have been much more interesting with photos. Maybe once I've got transitions down, I'll do a photo tutorial? But then, is anyone else as much of a gumby as me? I doubt it!
Watching Phil's demonstrations, I quickly realised I'd have to take a few baby steps before going the whole hog. I think weekly skillz sessions will be on the menu for a good few weeks, and I don't think I'll be smoothly transitioning by New Plymouth!
Step 1 was addressing my secret shame, and learning to start my bike off the saddle. Believe it or not, I gammied up my first couple of tries, but Phil was a good teacher, reminding me to push off hard. Once I had the push off down, we practiced gliding one-legged to get used to putting my weight on my anchor leg. The grass made this one a bit trickier, as we couldn't get much speed, and odd bumps made gliding trickier, but I got the hang of it.
Then we worked a little on my standing. Phil's been frustrated with how static my bike is when I'm out of the saddle, but moving it didn't feel natural, so we spent a few minutes riding round to at least get the hang of it on the flat.
Finally, we decided to put my new one-legged gliding skills to the test, and to practice dismounts. I've always had a weak left side, and generally anchor with my left hand while doing anything I need to do with the right. My lefthand indicating used to be completely ridiculous! However, I've practiced using my left hand more on the bike, and thought I was doing much better- at least until it was time to unstrap my left shoe. It took about four tries to rip a little piece of velcro! I managed one awkward but overall successful dismount, but then realised I'd been using my right leg the whole time, and had dismounted on the right. Apparently left would be better, so I went back to gliding practice, this time using the left leg as the anchor...
Even if I can't get a confident mount this season, I think the first stuff we practiced will help me take off quicker, and my goal will be to dismount like a real triathlete by the end of the season! A weekly skillz session will be invaluable- maybe u-turns next time?
My recovery week was well and truly a recovery week- with only 4.5 hours' training, no work, and no travel I wondered what to do with myself! (the answer? housework and too much internetting)
We went out adventuring on Monday (to Raglan and Waingaro Springs), but otherwise stayed home, and mucked around in Cambridge and Hamilton. Phil worked Thursday and Friday, but didn't have as much on as he'd expected, so it was all pretty cruisy.
The legs stayed stiff well into Tuesday, but were loosened up by the steep walk down to the beach at Raglan, and running up the stairs to the hydro-slide at Waingaro. I had a massage on Friday, and have done a bit of trigger point therapy to get rid of residual tightness, mostly in my hips and lower calves. Sadly, I couldn't make the most of my new quad sleeves, due to the damage my saddle bag to my poor fat inner thigh!
I've now definitely got to that point where I'm itching to train again- right where I should be. Yesterday's 2k swim and today's 1:30 ride both felt great- strong and easy. I'm looking forward to getting back into it tomorrow, especially the running.
Skillz
I also decided to make use of recovery week for some bike skillz work. Not having ridden as a child (well, at least not since I was about 7) has meant I've always been a little behind when it comes to basic bike handling- it took me weeks to learn to stand up on the bike, , I couldn't drink on the bike for ages, and carried a camelbak on my first Half IM, and I sit my butt on my saddle before I clip my feet in, even at stop lights (oh, the SHAME)! Riding the MTB has helped, and I'm a million times for comfortable on the bike than I was in 2006-2008, but I still have a wee way to go.
But now that I have real tri shoes, I need to start working on real tri skillz, so I've set myself a goal of learning proper bike transitions in 2011. After our ride today, we decided to head to the polo grounds (we kept off the proper horsey grass) to give it a go! I took my camera thinking "yay, I'll have something to blog about", but when we got there it was flat. Which is a great pity, as this would have been much more interesting with photos. Maybe once I've got transitions down, I'll do a photo tutorial? But then, is anyone else as much of a gumby as me? I doubt it!
Watching Phil's demonstrations, I quickly realised I'd have to take a few baby steps before going the whole hog. I think weekly skillz sessions will be on the menu for a good few weeks, and I don't think I'll be smoothly transitioning by New Plymouth!
Step 1 was addressing my secret shame, and learning to start my bike off the saddle. Believe it or not, I gammied up my first couple of tries, but Phil was a good teacher, reminding me to push off hard. Once I had the push off down, we practiced gliding one-legged to get used to putting my weight on my anchor leg. The grass made this one a bit trickier, as we couldn't get much speed, and odd bumps made gliding trickier, but I got the hang of it.
Then we worked a little on my standing. Phil's been frustrated with how static my bike is when I'm out of the saddle, but moving it didn't feel natural, so we spent a few minutes riding round to at least get the hang of it on the flat.
Finally, we decided to put my new one-legged gliding skills to the test, and to practice dismounts. I've always had a weak left side, and generally anchor with my left hand while doing anything I need to do with the right. My lefthand indicating used to be completely ridiculous! However, I've practiced using my left hand more on the bike, and thought I was doing much better- at least until it was time to unstrap my left shoe. It took about four tries to rip a little piece of velcro! I managed one awkward but overall successful dismount, but then realised I'd been using my right leg the whole time, and had dismounted on the right. Apparently left would be better, so I went back to gliding practice, this time using the left leg as the anchor...
Even if I can't get a confident mount this season, I think the first stuff we practiced will help me take off quicker, and my goal will be to dismount like a real triathlete by the end of the season! A weekly skillz session will be invaluable- maybe u-turns next time?
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Port of Tauranga Half Ironman: Hotpotato Smashes Sub-6 at last (Part V: Aftermath and comments)
Aftermath
As soon as I finished the race, I was in the "recovery tent" sculling back cups of coke- recently it's been all about the cola for me, both during and post race. Boy did that taste good! There was an impressive array of food, but I couldn't face anything other than orange slices, so I ate a couple, and took an apple for later. Then I made my way outside for hugs from my husband, and to thank my awesome race supporters. Phil had finished in 4:47- a massive PB and a great time. After a few minutes, we headed back to the tent for more cokes and waters- we were thirsty as, and those little cups didn't go far!
Then we headed into the sea for a cooldown and swim. Damian and I (the true water babies of the bunch) stayed in for a fair while, despite the jellies. It was a little chilly, so just perfect for some post race recovery.
By the time I finished, transition had opened for bikes to be taken out, so we didn't have much waiting around to do. I felt a bit bad that we didn't stay around for longer, as it really SUCKS when there's no-one there for the last finishers, but since it was a blistering hot summers day and we were at a beach 3 minutes walk from town, I thought there would probably be enough support for everyone. Plus, our awesome supporters who had spent a whole morning standing around in the sun were HUNGRY (...and we knew that we'd be hungry soon too!)
With our faithful pack mules, we were able to get everything back to the car pretty easily. I stuck a t-shirt over my tri-suit, applied some more sunscreen, and changed my shoes for jandals while Phil got changed. We walked down to the other end of the main street for Pluto Smoothies (us) and sushi (them), and sat in the sun dissecting our races.
Then we did a little shopping, Phil and I had sushi, and we headed back to our cabin, where Jenn, Damian and I went swimming, while Phil played around with data, and crashed asleep on the floor (...a post Half IM tradition, it seems!)
Prize giving was huge, and one of the best I've been to. Free food and beer (my vege burger was just what I needed to see me through til proper dinner), and they really ripped through the prizes, so it didn't take too long. I won a spot-prize; a $100 voucher for a nice restaurant in town, and we quickly decided to use it for a celebratory brunch the next day.
Then it was fajitas and margaritas at Mundo Mexicano (the pineapple margarita was amaazing), an evening swim at Pilot Bay (calm but cold), and gelato and coffee around the corner, before heading home to bed.
I woke up early (5:53am) on Sunday feeling bright and cheerful, and decided to get some air. It was a little rainy, and the kitchen wasn't open, so I got changed and went for a walk with Jenn. I'm always awake early and quite energetic after a big race, so a hilly walk was perfect.
Comments
The official results look like this:
Swim: 39:50 (128th female)
T1: 2:39 (129th female)
Bike: 3:00:53 (149th female)
T2: 2:20 (100th female)
Run: 2:03:06 (96th female)
Total time: 5:48:48
Place: 118th female, 18th F2529
This really shows just how much my bike (especially) is letting me down (my swim also, but less so). I finished 96th on the run, but 149th on the bike, and several of those who finished well behind me in my AG beat me on the bike. 96th overall was 10 minutes faster than me. I only needed to take a minute off my swim to place 96th in that leg (something that's eminently doable), but needed to take 12 minutes off the bike.
Of course, to get anywhere I need to get better at all three. To qualify for LD Worlds, I thought I needed something around 5:25 (obviously never going to be doable, but useful as a benchmark), but as it happened, I'd have needed a 5:11. Holy crap!
***
I am so glad we did Tauranga. It's a much bigger event than the other halfs we've done, and it was great fun (in hindsight...) It was fabulously run, and the tech officials and volunteers were amazing.
I had quite a few "why do I do this?" moments during the ride (and, to an extent, the run), and seriously felt ready to "retire" at times, but it didn't take long for excitement and enthusiasm to kick in again, so I can't wait for New Plymouth, and the rest of our season. I'm really glad to have a few weeks now to get a teeny bit more fitness, nail some of these bike issues, and maybe drop a little excess baggage.
If I play my cards right, New Plymouth is a totally sub-6-able course!
As soon as I finished the race, I was in the "recovery tent" sculling back cups of coke- recently it's been all about the cola for me, both during and post race. Boy did that taste good! There was an impressive array of food, but I couldn't face anything other than orange slices, so I ate a couple, and took an apple for later. Then I made my way outside for hugs from my husband, and to thank my awesome race supporters. Phil had finished in 4:47- a massive PB and a great time. After a few minutes, we headed back to the tent for more cokes and waters- we were thirsty as, and those little cups didn't go far!
Then we headed into the sea for a cooldown and swim. Damian and I (the true water babies of the bunch) stayed in for a fair while, despite the jellies. It was a little chilly, so just perfect for some post race recovery.
By the time I finished, transition had opened for bikes to be taken out, so we didn't have much waiting around to do. I felt a bit bad that we didn't stay around for longer, as it really SUCKS when there's no-one there for the last finishers, but since it was a blistering hot summers day and we were at a beach 3 minutes walk from town, I thought there would probably be enough support for everyone. Plus, our awesome supporters who had spent a whole morning standing around in the sun were HUNGRY (...and we knew that we'd be hungry soon too!)
With our faithful pack mules, we were able to get everything back to the car pretty easily. I stuck a t-shirt over my tri-suit, applied some more sunscreen, and changed my shoes for jandals while Phil got changed. We walked down to the other end of the main street for Pluto Smoothies (us) and sushi (them), and sat in the sun dissecting our races.
Then we did a little shopping, Phil and I had sushi, and we headed back to our cabin, where Jenn, Damian and I went swimming, while Phil played around with data, and crashed asleep on the floor (...a post Half IM tradition, it seems!)
Prize giving was huge, and one of the best I've been to. Free food and beer (my vege burger was just what I needed to see me through til proper dinner), and they really ripped through the prizes, so it didn't take too long. I won a spot-prize; a $100 voucher for a nice restaurant in town, and we quickly decided to use it for a celebratory brunch the next day.
Then it was fajitas and margaritas at Mundo Mexicano (the pineapple margarita was amaazing), an evening swim at Pilot Bay (calm but cold), and gelato and coffee around the corner, before heading home to bed.
I woke up early (5:53am) on Sunday feeling bright and cheerful, and decided to get some air. It was a little rainy, and the kitchen wasn't open, so I got changed and went for a walk with Jenn. I'm always awake early and quite energetic after a big race, so a hilly walk was perfect.
Comments
The official results look like this:
Swim: 39:50 (128th female)
T1: 2:39 (129th female)
Bike: 3:00:53 (149th female)
T2: 2:20 (100th female)
Run: 2:03:06 (96th female)
Total time: 5:48:48
Place: 118th female, 18th F2529
This really shows just how much my bike (especially) is letting me down (my swim also, but less so). I finished 96th on the run, but 149th on the bike, and several of those who finished well behind me in my AG beat me on the bike. 96th overall was 10 minutes faster than me. I only needed to take a minute off my swim to place 96th in that leg (something that's eminently doable), but needed to take 12 minutes off the bike.
Of course, to get anywhere I need to get better at all three. To qualify for LD Worlds, I thought I needed something around 5:25 (obviously never going to be doable, but useful as a benchmark), but as it happened, I'd have needed a 5:11. Holy crap!
***
I am so glad we did Tauranga. It's a much bigger event than the other halfs we've done, and it was great fun (in hindsight...) It was fabulously run, and the tech officials and volunteers were amazing.
I had quite a few "why do I do this?" moments during the ride (and, to an extent, the run), and seriously felt ready to "retire" at times, but it didn't take long for excitement and enthusiasm to kick in again, so I can't wait for New Plymouth, and the rest of our season. I'm really glad to have a few weeks now to get a teeny bit more fitness, nail some of these bike issues, and maybe drop a little excess baggage.
If I play my cards right, New Plymouth is a totally sub-6-able course!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Port of Tauranga Half Ironman: Hotpotato Smashes Sub-6 at last (Part IV: The Run)
Follow the links to Parts I, II and III
When I saw my low HR on the second half of the bike, I thought to myself "at least I'll be able to smash the run." I spent a stupidly long time in T2- it didn't feel that way,and T2 does include a reasonable run, but 2:20 is STILL TOO LONG, and made it onto the course JUST as Graham O'Grady finished- goal 1 checked off! It was quite neat heading out as the leaders finished- seeing them make their way down the chute, and watching the other pros on the finishing straight was inspiring.
After a few hundred metres, I looked at my watch. Oops! I was running 12.3 kph, and my average pace was 11.9. I felt like I had started conservatively, but obviously the excitement had got to me. My HR was 168, which was exactly where I wanted it, but I dialled back a teeny tiny bit, since I knew I had two horrible hot loops of the Mount ahead of me.
I was passing people, though maybe not as many as usual. Even though I was disappointed with my rubbish bike, I was around fitter looking people than I sometimes was in Rotorua, and it was harder than usual to make my passes, possibly because it was flat.
I saw my official supporters twice on the first lap, and they shot me with the water shooters they'd brought with them (... best idea ever, beeteedub). It was absolutely baking hot, and I was living for the aid stations and the hoses there. I decided to stick to water for the first lap, and add some coke if I needed it on the second. I was carrying some Clif Shotblocks, so I had calories, and coke is either the best thing ever, or the worst idea imaginable, so I didn't want to take it too early. I was taking in as much water as I could, and only throwing it over my head if I had enough- luckily there were plenty of hoses (etc) out, and just before the base track there was a spray tent. Awesome.
I also saw Kathy with her friends, and as I climbed the hill up to the base track, I saw Mike for the first time. I'd been given permission to walk the hills, but having Mike+camera ahead of me pushed me to run, which was lucky, as the official race photog was hiding up there too- a seriously EVIL place!
They both got me looking pretty happy, but I was definitely hurting. I'd reset the lap on my garmin so that I wouldn't be too disheartened watching my average pace go down and down on the Mount. My average pace for the first lap was 5:24/km, at an AHR of 169, which I was pleased with. I really think I could have held that pace- or a little slower- for most of the run if not for the two loops of the Mount to go solidly sub-2, but I guess we'll see in New Plymouth! I walked one of the hills on the track, as Coach Paul had told us to keep it easy, but found starting running again so unbearable it was better to just shuffle up, especially since the walking had little effect on my HR and RPE. I tried to push the downhills a little, and was often running my normal road paces on the flat and downhill bits, which was good. My overall pace for the base track (plus a little more- I think I pressed lap after the drink station) was 6:23, at an AHR of 170. Not as bad as it could have been, that's for sure!
I'd seen Phil heading out on his second lap as I approached the Mount for the first time, and kept setting myself little *beating* Phil goals. First I aimed to get onto the Mount track before him. Once I was on the track, I wondered if I could get off before he caught me, even though that seemed unlikely. When I was just about done, Phil's coach passed me and told me Phil was catching him, so I picked up my pace just a little bit, and was feeling OK when I saw Mike again at the other side of the Mount. Mostly, I was looking forward to getting some speed again!
The distance from the edge of the Mount to the finish/turnaround is always longer than it looks. Luckily, the course support was amazing, and the atmosphere was great. I got a squirt from J and D, and hi-5s from a whole row of kids. I asked J and D if I could beat Phil back, and they looked pretty doubtful, so I gave it a little push to the turnaround. As I completed my turnaround, focused Phil was about to kick to the finish- unfortunately, he was too focused to hear my cheers. Also unfortunately, I was too focussed on him to pay attention to the race clock, and had no idea how I was doing- the one thing my Garmin didn't display was total time!
Here I am saying to Mike "I beat Phil!" (I'm sure he eventually figured out what I meant....)
My legs were pretty shattered from the Mount, and my feet were a bit sore. My main feeling was elation that I hadn't been lapped by Phil, but excitement at the number of aid stations coming up was a close second :) I started catching and passing some of the ladies who had passed me in the second lap of the bike, although it wasn't as easy as it sometimes is! My pace was lurking in the mid-10s (kph), which was OK, but I'd have liked to be closer to the 11s, as I was in the first lap. One lady, in particular, was impossible to shake, which was OK with me, as she provided valuable motivation. I knew pretty early on that her plan was to tuck in behind me and then drop me at the end (she did), and to be honest, I wasn't bothered. She wasn't in my AG, and I had no real desire to beat her- the motivation of having someone right on my tail was good enough! We managed to pass a whole heap of people together!
Here we are running up the first hill the second time:
...and again:
...and again:
She was walking more hills and drink stations than me, but then catching me up. I was finding it fairly easy to drink, so ran (shuffled) the drink stations. My goal was not to walk on the second loop of the Mount, but I succumbed and walked on short, steep incline. Maybe I could have taken her if I'd followed the same strategy, but it was enough of a death march by this time that I don't think I could have! Our average pace for the second loop was 6:24/km, which I'm jolly pleased with. My AHR had climbed to 173 by this point.
Finally, we made it off the track, and it was time for the final sprint home (it's about 700m). Though by this time, "sprint" meant "shuffling at 5:36/km" (AHR 176). I had no idea what my time was, but I knew I'd come fairly close to a 2 hour half marathon, and that I was well sub 6 overall. My friend passed me, and I couldn't quite stick with her (she crossed 6 seconds ahead of me).
The race clock said 2:52:xx when I finished, and I crossed my fingers and hoped like heck that was "pro-time", not "man-time" (and certainly not "lady-time") as that would mean a sub 5:50 finish. It was- and my official time was 5:48:48. My official run time was just over 2:03, which is a bit disappointing, but oh well- at the end of the day, it's the combination that counts, and a 2:03 half, including 6ks of offroad in stinking midday heat is nothing to be sneezed at!
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! Last installment- aftermath and race "review"- to follow ...
When I saw my low HR on the second half of the bike, I thought to myself "at least I'll be able to smash the run." I spent a stupidly long time in T2- it didn't feel that way,and T2 does include a reasonable run, but 2:20 is STILL TOO LONG, and made it onto the course JUST as Graham O'Grady finished- goal 1 checked off! It was quite neat heading out as the leaders finished- seeing them make their way down the chute, and watching the other pros on the finishing straight was inspiring.
After a few hundred metres, I looked at my watch. Oops! I was running 12.3 kph, and my average pace was 11.9. I felt like I had started conservatively, but obviously the excitement had got to me. My HR was 168, which was exactly where I wanted it, but I dialled back a teeny tiny bit, since I knew I had two horrible hot loops of the Mount ahead of me.
I was passing people, though maybe not as many as usual. Even though I was disappointed with my rubbish bike, I was around fitter looking people than I sometimes was in Rotorua, and it was harder than usual to make my passes, possibly because it was flat.
I saw my official supporters twice on the first lap, and they shot me with the water shooters they'd brought with them (... best idea ever, beeteedub). It was absolutely baking hot, and I was living for the aid stations and the hoses there. I decided to stick to water for the first lap, and add some coke if I needed it on the second. I was carrying some Clif Shotblocks, so I had calories, and coke is either the best thing ever, or the worst idea imaginable, so I didn't want to take it too early. I was taking in as much water as I could, and only throwing it over my head if I had enough- luckily there were plenty of hoses (etc) out, and just before the base track there was a spray tent. Awesome.
I also saw Kathy with her friends, and as I climbed the hill up to the base track, I saw Mike for the first time. I'd been given permission to walk the hills, but having Mike+camera ahead of me pushed me to run, which was lucky, as the official race photog was hiding up there too- a seriously EVIL place!
They both got me looking pretty happy, but I was definitely hurting. I'd reset the lap on my garmin so that I wouldn't be too disheartened watching my average pace go down and down on the Mount. My average pace for the first lap was 5:24/km, at an AHR of 169, which I was pleased with. I really think I could have held that pace- or a little slower- for most of the run if not for the two loops of the Mount to go solidly sub-2, but I guess we'll see in New Plymouth! I walked one of the hills on the track, as Coach Paul had told us to keep it easy, but found starting running again so unbearable it was better to just shuffle up, especially since the walking had little effect on my HR and RPE. I tried to push the downhills a little, and was often running my normal road paces on the flat and downhill bits, which was good. My overall pace for the base track (plus a little more- I think I pressed lap after the drink station) was 6:23, at an AHR of 170. Not as bad as it could have been, that's for sure!
I'd seen Phil heading out on his second lap as I approached the Mount for the first time, and kept setting myself little *beating* Phil goals. First I aimed to get onto the Mount track before him. Once I was on the track, I wondered if I could get off before he caught me, even though that seemed unlikely. When I was just about done, Phil's coach passed me and told me Phil was catching him, so I picked up my pace just a little bit, and was feeling OK when I saw Mike again at the other side of the Mount. Mostly, I was looking forward to getting some speed again!
The distance from the edge of the Mount to the finish/turnaround is always longer than it looks. Luckily, the course support was amazing, and the atmosphere was great. I got a squirt from J and D, and hi-5s from a whole row of kids. I asked J and D if I could beat Phil back, and they looked pretty doubtful, so I gave it a little push to the turnaround. As I completed my turnaround, focused Phil was about to kick to the finish- unfortunately, he was too focused to hear my cheers. Also unfortunately, I was too focussed on him to pay attention to the race clock, and had no idea how I was doing- the one thing my Garmin didn't display was total time!
Here I am saying to Mike "I beat Phil!" (I'm sure he eventually figured out what I meant....)
My legs were pretty shattered from the Mount, and my feet were a bit sore. My main feeling was elation that I hadn't been lapped by Phil, but excitement at the number of aid stations coming up was a close second :) I started catching and passing some of the ladies who had passed me in the second lap of the bike, although it wasn't as easy as it sometimes is! My pace was lurking in the mid-10s (kph), which was OK, but I'd have liked to be closer to the 11s, as I was in the first lap. One lady, in particular, was impossible to shake, which was OK with me, as she provided valuable motivation. I knew pretty early on that her plan was to tuck in behind me and then drop me at the end (she did), and to be honest, I wasn't bothered. She wasn't in my AG, and I had no real desire to beat her- the motivation of having someone right on my tail was good enough! We managed to pass a whole heap of people together!
Here we are running up the first hill the second time:
...and again:
...and again:
She was walking more hills and drink stations than me, but then catching me up. I was finding it fairly easy to drink, so ran (shuffled) the drink stations. My goal was not to walk on the second loop of the Mount, but I succumbed and walked on short, steep incline. Maybe I could have taken her if I'd followed the same strategy, but it was enough of a death march by this time that I don't think I could have! Our average pace for the second loop was 6:24/km, which I'm jolly pleased with. My AHR had climbed to 173 by this point.
Finally, we made it off the track, and it was time for the final sprint home (it's about 700m). Though by this time, "sprint" meant "shuffling at 5:36/km" (AHR 176). I had no idea what my time was, but I knew I'd come fairly close to a 2 hour half marathon, and that I was well sub 6 overall. My friend passed me, and I couldn't quite stick with her (she crossed 6 seconds ahead of me).
The race clock said 2:52:xx when I finished, and I crossed my fingers and hoped like heck that was "pro-time", not "man-time" (and certainly not "lady-time") as that would mean a sub 5:50 finish. It was- and my official time was 5:48:48. My official run time was just over 2:03, which is a bit disappointing, but oh well- at the end of the day, it's the combination that counts, and a 2:03 half, including 6ks of offroad in stinking midday heat is nothing to be sneezed at!
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! Last installment- aftermath and race "review"- to follow ...
Monday, January 10, 2011
Port of Tauranga Half Ironman: Hotpotato Smashes Sub-6 at last (Part III: The Bike)
(Parts I and II)
T1 was pretty slow, in 2:39. I was 128th lady out of the swim (UGH) and 129th in T1! However, there was a teeny bit of a run from the swim timing mat to my bike, and a bit of sorting out to do, as I'd decided to wear socks on the ride, and needed to pack some gloves in my back pocket to save my hands in case of punctures. Losing one one place was definitely not as bad as it could have been!
The bike was two laps of an out and back, with a couple of small-medium sized detours. The course is similar to the course at Tinman- it just goes out further, to bring the total distance up to 90km.
My goal for the ride was to approximate an average power of about 155-160, by shooting for an average of 31-32 kph. I have no idea if this would be right, but it was about what we guesstimated during our ride the day before. To do this, I figured I'd try to maintain 33-35 in tailwinds, and to hold 28-29 in headwinds. I've sometimes tended to spin too much on flat courses, so I focussed on pushing biggish gears and staying aero as much as possible. I also wanted to stay in my big ring as much as I could, as shifting all the time can be a real pain in the nuts (one of those things the pros don't have to worry about).
I knew that, as in Tinman, I was starting the bike a little further back than I should have been, so I wanted to make up some time. I tried not to let myself drift too much at the beginning, and settled quickly into aero position and a decent gear. I felt pretty good, and soon picked off a few people ahead of me (who REALLY shouldn't have been). One lady had an incredibly noisy bike- I don't know WHAT was going on there. She was a bit bigger than me, so kept catching me in tailwinds, but the sounds of the bike GRINDING were so awful, I was motivated to stay ahead. Whatever gets you going, huh?!
There were still a fair few AG men coming through (judging by the results, about 100), and the super speedy teamsters were also getting on their way, so I was getting "legitimately" passed quite a lot. But I tried to at least pass a person for everyone who passed me, and for the first few ks that worked OK. I had a pretty solid ride out to the main turnaround, but lost a bit of pace on the detour on the way home.
It was probably in the last 7ks or so of the first lap that my lower back started to hurt. This has happened a few times recently, especially on hilly rides, and I'm hoping to work with Bike Fit David and maybe Phil's chiro to come up with a solution before New Plymouth.
As usual, my goal was to finish the bike before the pros finished the race, and I knew they were close to finishing the ride when I finished my first lap, so I had to keep going strong! I also had to keep up the pace if I was to have any shot of breaking 3 hours.
There was a reasonable headwind on the way back on, particularly on the "rough" section. I watched my average lap pace slow, and slow, and slow. At one point, my current pace was 24.5! I was feeling pretty uncomfortable, and lost my mojo for a little while. I also lost a few places :( (It turns out I lost THIRTEEN female places overall during the bike. Fark!) Luckily, I could see the dudes coming back, and knew there was a sweeeeeeet tailwind waiting to take me home. Thinking of that spurred me on, and I made a bit of ground back up- though it was mostly men I was passing.
Sometime on the final 25km my Co2bra (holding my Co2 pump, tubes, etc) must have shifted, and try as I might, I couldn't put it back. A pointy edge was rubbing against my inner thigh with every pedal stroke. It was quite sore and rather bothersome, but I was mostly able to ignore it. It wasn't until after the race that I discovered it had rubbed its way through my 2XU trisuit and had started in on my poor thigh, which now has a scab about the size of a $2 coin!
(I'm sparing you the thigh pic...)
I didn't capitalise quite as much as I'd hoped on the tailwind on the way home, mostly as I was struggling to stay aero. I couldn't quite catch up enough to get a legal draft, and the people passing me were mostly team riders, with a few AG men thrown in. The one plus is that the AG men were mostly 40-50, rather than 55-65 which is what they usually are!
I made it back into T2 in about 3:00 (official time 3:00:53). I was a bit disappointed, but I knew I hadn't thrashed my legs too much, and that I'd have a good run in me, which was a huge positive!
*Nutrition: I drank nearly 2 bottles of Cran-Apple Rain (sports drink for women- won a tub of it at a Club Nite) at about 200 cals per bottle, ate an Em's Mini Cookie (120?) and the best part of a tube of shot blocks (so, 180 or so probably).
A quick comment on the bike before I move on:
My AHR for the first lap was 159, which is on the low side of about right, but my AHR for the second lap was 153, and I noticed a few readings in the 140s, particularly during the headwind. This SHOULD NOT BE THE CASE.
I think it shows, at least in part, that while some of my bike problems are fitness/strength-related, posture and technique are probably THE biggest factors in my conistently AVERAGE bike performance (the rest of it is mental). I know some discomfort is normal in a 3-4 hour ride, but I am SURE I find cycling more uncomfortable than most other cyclists, and this seems to be borne out by my race performances, as well as in training.
I've been struggling with the bike for years, and gradually isolating and fixing my problems (fear, horrible bike, climbing, cornering and descending skills). Posture/position has been the biggie for awhile. I've totally BANNED glasses on the bike, to stop me arching my neck and head up, and I did a great job during the first lap of looking straight ahead- I barely knew who was returning on the other side of the road for once! The good thing is that I now have some more things to work on, and the beginnings of a plan to work on them. I REALLY want to get good on the bike- these legs have got to be good for something!!
The other point is technique. My average cadence on the second lap was 76, which is just terrible for a flat course. I was tending towards too HIGH a cadence last year, but I've slipped back into bad habits. Back to the trainer?
T1 was pretty slow, in 2:39. I was 128th lady out of the swim (UGH) and 129th in T1! However, there was a teeny bit of a run from the swim timing mat to my bike, and a bit of sorting out to do, as I'd decided to wear socks on the ride, and needed to pack some gloves in my back pocket to save my hands in case of punctures. Losing one one place was definitely not as bad as it could have been!
The bike was two laps of an out and back, with a couple of small-medium sized detours. The course is similar to the course at Tinman- it just goes out further, to bring the total distance up to 90km.
My goal for the ride was to approximate an average power of about 155-160, by shooting for an average of 31-32 kph. I have no idea if this would be right, but it was about what we guesstimated during our ride the day before. To do this, I figured I'd try to maintain 33-35 in tailwinds, and to hold 28-29 in headwinds. I've sometimes tended to spin too much on flat courses, so I focussed on pushing biggish gears and staying aero as much as possible. I also wanted to stay in my big ring as much as I could, as shifting all the time can be a real pain in the nuts (one of those things the pros don't have to worry about).
I knew that, as in Tinman, I was starting the bike a little further back than I should have been, so I wanted to make up some time. I tried not to let myself drift too much at the beginning, and settled quickly into aero position and a decent gear. I felt pretty good, and soon picked off a few people ahead of me (who REALLY shouldn't have been). One lady had an incredibly noisy bike- I don't know WHAT was going on there. She was a bit bigger than me, so kept catching me in tailwinds, but the sounds of the bike GRINDING were so awful, I was motivated to stay ahead. Whatever gets you going, huh?!
There were still a fair few AG men coming through (judging by the results, about 100), and the super speedy teamsters were also getting on their way, so I was getting "legitimately" passed quite a lot. But I tried to at least pass a person for everyone who passed me, and for the first few ks that worked OK. I had a pretty solid ride out to the main turnaround, but lost a bit of pace on the detour on the way home.
It was probably in the last 7ks or so of the first lap that my lower back started to hurt. This has happened a few times recently, especially on hilly rides, and I'm hoping to work with Bike Fit David and maybe Phil's chiro to come up with a solution before New Plymouth.
As usual, my goal was to finish the bike before the pros finished the race, and I knew they were close to finishing the ride when I finished my first lap, so I had to keep going strong! I also had to keep up the pace if I was to have any shot of breaking 3 hours.
There was a reasonable headwind on the way back on, particularly on the "rough" section. I watched my average lap pace slow, and slow, and slow. At one point, my current pace was 24.5! I was feeling pretty uncomfortable, and lost my mojo for a little while. I also lost a few places :( (It turns out I lost THIRTEEN female places overall during the bike. Fark!) Luckily, I could see the dudes coming back, and knew there was a sweeeeeeet tailwind waiting to take me home. Thinking of that spurred me on, and I made a bit of ground back up- though it was mostly men I was passing.
Sometime on the final 25km my Co2bra (holding my Co2 pump, tubes, etc) must have shifted, and try as I might, I couldn't put it back. A pointy edge was rubbing against my inner thigh with every pedal stroke. It was quite sore and rather bothersome, but I was mostly able to ignore it. It wasn't until after the race that I discovered it had rubbed its way through my 2XU trisuit and had started in on my poor thigh, which now has a scab about the size of a $2 coin!
(I'm sparing you the thigh pic...)
I didn't capitalise quite as much as I'd hoped on the tailwind on the way home, mostly as I was struggling to stay aero. I couldn't quite catch up enough to get a legal draft, and the people passing me were mostly team riders, with a few AG men thrown in. The one plus is that the AG men were mostly 40-50, rather than 55-65 which is what they usually are!
I made it back into T2 in about 3:00 (official time 3:00:53). I was a bit disappointed, but I knew I hadn't thrashed my legs too much, and that I'd have a good run in me, which was a huge positive!
*Nutrition: I drank nearly 2 bottles of Cran-Apple Rain (sports drink for women- won a tub of it at a Club Nite) at about 200 cals per bottle, ate an Em's Mini Cookie (120?) and the best part of a tube of shot blocks (so, 180 or so probably).
A quick comment on the bike before I move on:
My AHR for the first lap was 159, which is on the low side of about right, but my AHR for the second lap was 153, and I noticed a few readings in the 140s, particularly during the headwind. This SHOULD NOT BE THE CASE.
I think it shows, at least in part, that while some of my bike problems are fitness/strength-related, posture and technique are probably THE biggest factors in my conistently AVERAGE bike performance (the rest of it is mental). I know some discomfort is normal in a 3-4 hour ride, but I am SURE I find cycling more uncomfortable than most other cyclists, and this seems to be borne out by my race performances, as well as in training.
I've been struggling with the bike for years, and gradually isolating and fixing my problems (fear, horrible bike, climbing, cornering and descending skills). Posture/position has been the biggie for awhile. I've totally BANNED glasses on the bike, to stop me arching my neck and head up, and I did a great job during the first lap of looking straight ahead- I barely knew who was returning on the other side of the road for once! The good thing is that I now have some more things to work on, and the beginnings of a plan to work on them. I REALLY want to get good on the bike- these legs have got to be good for something!!
The other point is technique. My average cadence on the second lap was 76, which is just terrible for a flat course. I was tending towards too HIGH a cadence last year, but I've slipped back into bad habits. Back to the trainer?
Sunday, January 09, 2011
Port of Tauranga Half Ironman: Hotpotato Smashes Sub-6 at last (Part II: The Swim)
(Part I)
(Please excuse the absurdly detailed post- I want to cover everything, for Coach Paul (who doesn't have to read it all) future-Kate, and for any readers who do this event in the future)
Before I get into recapping proper, I need to say a HUGE thank you to MIKE, the best unofficial** race supporter and paparazzo of all time. Unless otherwise credited, the photos in my recaps have been cheekily pinched from his facebook album. Check out his blog- both because he is neat, and for a link to the rest of his great photos!
Swim
The swim was two triangles- a small (700m) one first, followed by a big (1300m) one.
The water was choppy, and I was worried about pretty much everything- getting the tides right, not panicking if I saw a jelly or stingray, not being eaten by a shark*, not swallowing too much salt water, not getting bashed in the face, not crashing into a boat, not getting run over by a cruise ship. You get the picture. It was a much bigger swim than I've done before, but surprisingly not too violent. Or else I'm just getting used to it! I stayed with a huge group for the first loop, and got a few kicks, but nothing too hard. Of course we caught the slowest men pretty quickly, which is always annoying, but probably not as annoying as being swum over by two hundred women is for them, so no hard feelings!
I was supposed to go wide to the first red buoy, so I started towards the left of the group, and headed towards the left of the boat that was blocking our line of vision. I probably should have been a little further over. Most people seemed to take another line, but I think Coach Paul's advice was spot on- even though I was aiming wide, I seemed to take a fairly direct line. I was a trifle TOO close, and ended up in the fray a bit when I reached the buoy.
The trip from the red buoy to the yellow buoy was choice. I finally understood what people were talking about when they referred to "being sucked along". It was just a mess of frothy water and waving limbs, and the vague hope of a yellow buoy ahead. Before I knew it I was being slammed up against the buoy again, and turning back to the white turning buoy.
Yellow to white was hard. I was supposed to swim narrow, as the tide was dragging out, and the shoreline makes swimming in a straight line difficult. I couldn't see the white buoy, and couldn't keep my line, so I kept drifting into the shallows. Again, Coach Paul's advice was priceless, as I knew what to expect and how to combat it. We had to swim around the white buoy then run up to the beach and around a turnaround gantry. I have a love/hate relationship with these sorts of swims- the opportunity to adjust goggles and check timing is great, but having to jump around on shells and rocks an extra time is not so great. Also notsogreat is the tendency people have to stand and walk as soon as remotely possible. It was ridiculous!
I was pleased to see 12:21 on my swim watch. Since the second lap followed a similar pattern to the first, just bigger, I felt pretty good. I actually reminded myself "don't get complacent- any extra minutes on the swim are minutes you don't have to shave off the bike and run." Cocky much?!
Sadly, the second lap was harder. Not sure why- I think actually the first lap was possibly a little short and the second a little long, as others' (ok, Phil's) impression was similar. I had a pretty good trip out to the first big yellow buoy and across to the next one, but the tide must have been moving with a vengeance by the time I got to the second buoy, and the trip back seemed to take FOREVER. It certainly didn't help that at the first yellow buoy (see above) we met some of the slower team swimmers. That was all kinds of fun. Not.
I finally crawled out in 39:21, and crossed the timing mat up the beach in 39:50. So, still "acceptable", but barely, and not a lot of leeway for the bike and run.
Next up- the bike!
(As you can see, I am real stoked at the various teamies around me).
*apparently, and this is very much rumour, there WAS a shark!
**my official supporters are also amazing, but I don't have their photos yet :)
(Please excuse the absurdly detailed post- I want to cover everything, for Coach Paul (who doesn't have to read it all) future-Kate, and for any readers who do this event in the future)
Before I get into recapping proper, I need to say a HUGE thank you to MIKE, the best unofficial** race supporter and paparazzo of all time. Unless otherwise credited, the photos in my recaps have been cheekily pinched from his facebook album. Check out his blog- both because he is neat, and for a link to the rest of his great photos!
Swim
The swim was two triangles- a small (700m) one first, followed by a big (1300m) one.
The water was choppy, and I was worried about pretty much everything- getting the tides right, not panicking if I saw a jelly or stingray, not being eaten by a shark*, not swallowing too much salt water, not getting bashed in the face, not crashing into a boat, not getting run over by a cruise ship. You get the picture. It was a much bigger swim than I've done before, but surprisingly not too violent. Or else I'm just getting used to it! I stayed with a huge group for the first loop, and got a few kicks, but nothing too hard. Of course we caught the slowest men pretty quickly, which is always annoying, but probably not as annoying as being swum over by two hundred women is for them, so no hard feelings!
I was supposed to go wide to the first red buoy, so I started towards the left of the group, and headed towards the left of the boat that was blocking our line of vision. I probably should have been a little further over. Most people seemed to take another line, but I think Coach Paul's advice was spot on- even though I was aiming wide, I seemed to take a fairly direct line. I was a trifle TOO close, and ended up in the fray a bit when I reached the buoy.
The trip from the red buoy to the yellow buoy was choice. I finally understood what people were talking about when they referred to "being sucked along". It was just a mess of frothy water and waving limbs, and the vague hope of a yellow buoy ahead. Before I knew it I was being slammed up against the buoy again, and turning back to the white turning buoy.
Yellow to white was hard. I was supposed to swim narrow, as the tide was dragging out, and the shoreline makes swimming in a straight line difficult. I couldn't see the white buoy, and couldn't keep my line, so I kept drifting into the shallows. Again, Coach Paul's advice was priceless, as I knew what to expect and how to combat it. We had to swim around the white buoy then run up to the beach and around a turnaround gantry. I have a love/hate relationship with these sorts of swims- the opportunity to adjust goggles and check timing is great, but having to jump around on shells and rocks an extra time is not so great. Also notsogreat is the tendency people have to stand and walk as soon as remotely possible. It was ridiculous!
I was pleased to see 12:21 on my swim watch. Since the second lap followed a similar pattern to the first, just bigger, I felt pretty good. I actually reminded myself "don't get complacent- any extra minutes on the swim are minutes you don't have to shave off the bike and run." Cocky much?!
Sadly, the second lap was harder. Not sure why- I think actually the first lap was possibly a little short and the second a little long, as others' (ok, Phil's) impression was similar. I had a pretty good trip out to the first big yellow buoy and across to the next one, but the tide must have been moving with a vengeance by the time I got to the second buoy, and the trip back seemed to take FOREVER. It certainly didn't help that at the first yellow buoy (see above) we met some of the slower team swimmers. That was all kinds of fun. Not.
I finally crawled out in 39:21, and crossed the timing mat up the beach in 39:50. So, still "acceptable", but barely, and not a lot of leeway for the bike and run.
Next up- the bike!
(As you can see, I am real stoked at the various teamies around me).
*apparently, and this is very much rumour, there WAS a shark!
**my official supporters are also amazing, but I don't have their photos yet :)
Port of Tauranga Half Ironman: Hotpotato Smashes Sub-6 at last (Part I)
Well, after three years of training and three half ironmen, I have finally broken the magical 6-hour barrier. I may have missed all of my benchmark goals, and I may not have reached the level I feel deep inside that I should be capable of, but with an overall time of 5:48:48, I can at least say I went convincingly sub-6.
Pre-race
We drove down to the Mount early on Friday morning to meet Phil's former coach and his fiancee for a morning swim in Pilot Bay. Even though we were there too late to get a sense of the tides at race time (I'm not quite committed enough to get up before 5am the day BEFORE race day) it was good to look at the Bay with Coach Paul's advice in mind. We did a very relaxed first loop, with plenty of stops to practice sighting and consider our best boat navigation strategies. The sea was calm and glassy- perfect start to the day.
We then got changed (well, I chucked some tri shorts and a jersey over my togs) and headed out for a short spin- out to the first turnaround and back. The streets were chock-full of all manner of cyclists, and it was fun absorbing the festival atmosphere. We even saw Gordon McCauley (who, as a team cyclist, went SUB-2 on the ride) out with a motorbike pacer. I took it easy, but was still pleased that the boys didn't lose me. The new race tyres were a dream- I was super glad to have passed Phil's tyre-changing test the night before!
After our training, we had our helmets checked, then headed into Tauranga to check into our holiday park (Silver Birch... a big fat THUMBS DOWN) and for lunch with our friends from Wellington and their 5 month old. The restaurant was typical overpriced waterfront Italian-fare, and our huge calzone sat heavy in our tummies for a good couple of hours. Fortunately it wasn't too greasy.
We then drove back to the Mount (travel between Tga and the Mount was a feature of our weekend- that's what happens when you don't book accommodation until November...) for registration, body-marking and bike racking. I loved being able to ditch the bike the night before, though it was a bit of a pain faffing about with bike paraphernalia on race morning. I was pleased with my spot in transition- in the same bay as for Tinman, and right outside a noticeable brown house.
We then hit up the expo, and spent way too much money some compression gear. I took considerable pleasure from the fact that I was at least a size bigger than Phil in every measurement- my big muscly legs are something I can't change so might as well embrace! There was some time to kill before briefing, so we wandered to the dairy and for drinks and ice blocks. I love the new strawberry splice!
As the day went on, my enthusiasm grew along with my nerves. I remarked to Phil during our little walk "it's a pity that no matter how excited I am, I'm still not going to get any fitter than I am". Ah, so true!
Our chief supporters, Jenn and Damian, arrived during the briefing, so we gathered all the fixings for some pasta, and drove back to Silver Birch to make dinner. Which was easier said that done. We'd booked a "kitchen cabin", but unfortunately that meant a grotty old fridge whirring away by the bed, a teeny tiny virtually unreachable cupboard, and a zillion year old two burner stove balanced on top of a microwave. The only pot suitable for pasta was lid-less, the (too small) frying pan was encrusted with burnt grease, and our only kitchen utensils were a bendy slotted spoon and a blunt bread knife- neither of which were ideal for cooking mince! Luckily Jenn and I are seasoned pros at spag bol, and the meal we came up with was pretty darn yum!
After dinner, Jenn, Damian and I headed for a quick swim in the (quite nice) pool. I unloaded my key stresses: "what if the swim's horrible?" (a: it probably will be, but you'll still get out eventually) and "what if I get pinged for drafting even though I was doing nothing wrong?" (a: you'll take your penalty like an awesome person, and tell the world you would have gone 3 minutes faster if not for those annoying cheaters). The swim left me feeling refreshed and relaxed even though the pool was very warm. It was way too hot for the cuppa I'd planned, so we all got to bed at a respectable hour (about 9:30). Sadly, going to sleep wasn't so easy- the cabin was absolutely stifling. Phil and I had sweat beads forming on our brows as soon as our heads hit the pillows! I wasn't feeling particularly stressed or nervous, but I drifted in and out of vague sleep for the next few hours.
The one good thing about a disruptive night of sleep pre-race is that it's much easier to get up in the wee small hours. I was pretty chirpy when the alarm went off at 3:30- certainly much more so than last Rotorua. I couldn't be bothered making porridge in our "kitchen", so we all had oats with yoghurt, banana and blueberries for breakfast. It didn't really fill me up, so I ate an Em's Power Cookie, and also gagged down a banana while we were setting up.
We made it to transition at around 5am, just as it was opening. It was pretty quiet, which was nice for a change. We tend to cut it a little fine sometimes! It took a wee bit of time to get set up- checking and pumping our tyres, double checking my helmet to see if it fit (it didn't, and I spent a few seconds adjusting it), taping our Co2bras and pit stop cannisters to the bikes, and getting our nutrition all ready to go. It seemed like no time at all before it was time to get in the water for our warm up!
Part II to come soon!!
Pre-race
We drove down to the Mount early on Friday morning to meet Phil's former coach and his fiancee for a morning swim in Pilot Bay. Even though we were there too late to get a sense of the tides at race time (I'm not quite committed enough to get up before 5am the day BEFORE race day) it was good to look at the Bay with Coach Paul's advice in mind. We did a very relaxed first loop, with plenty of stops to practice sighting and consider our best boat navigation strategies. The sea was calm and glassy- perfect start to the day.
We then got changed (well, I chucked some tri shorts and a jersey over my togs) and headed out for a short spin- out to the first turnaround and back. The streets were chock-full of all manner of cyclists, and it was fun absorbing the festival atmosphere. We even saw Gordon McCauley (who, as a team cyclist, went SUB-2 on the ride) out with a motorbike pacer. I took it easy, but was still pleased that the boys didn't lose me. The new race tyres were a dream- I was super glad to have passed Phil's tyre-changing test the night before!
After our training, we had our helmets checked, then headed into Tauranga to check into our holiday park (Silver Birch... a big fat THUMBS DOWN) and for lunch with our friends from Wellington and their 5 month old. The restaurant was typical overpriced waterfront Italian-fare, and our huge calzone sat heavy in our tummies for a good couple of hours. Fortunately it wasn't too greasy.
We then drove back to the Mount (travel between Tga and the Mount was a feature of our weekend- that's what happens when you don't book accommodation until November...) for registration, body-marking and bike racking. I loved being able to ditch the bike the night before, though it was a bit of a pain faffing about with bike paraphernalia on race morning. I was pleased with my spot in transition- in the same bay as for Tinman, and right outside a noticeable brown house.
We then hit up the expo, and spent way too much money some compression gear. I took considerable pleasure from the fact that I was at least a size bigger than Phil in every measurement- my big muscly legs are something I can't change so might as well embrace! There was some time to kill before briefing, so we wandered to the dairy and for drinks and ice blocks. I love the new strawberry splice!
As the day went on, my enthusiasm grew along with my nerves. I remarked to Phil during our little walk "it's a pity that no matter how excited I am, I'm still not going to get any fitter than I am". Ah, so true!
Our chief supporters, Jenn and Damian, arrived during the briefing, so we gathered all the fixings for some pasta, and drove back to Silver Birch to make dinner. Which was easier said that done. We'd booked a "kitchen cabin", but unfortunately that meant a grotty old fridge whirring away by the bed, a teeny tiny virtually unreachable cupboard, and a zillion year old two burner stove balanced on top of a microwave. The only pot suitable for pasta was lid-less, the (too small) frying pan was encrusted with burnt grease, and our only kitchen utensils were a bendy slotted spoon and a blunt bread knife- neither of which were ideal for cooking mince! Luckily Jenn and I are seasoned pros at spag bol, and the meal we came up with was pretty darn yum!
After dinner, Jenn, Damian and I headed for a quick swim in the (quite nice) pool. I unloaded my key stresses: "what if the swim's horrible?" (a: it probably will be, but you'll still get out eventually) and "what if I get pinged for drafting even though I was doing nothing wrong?" (a: you'll take your penalty like an awesome person, and tell the world you would have gone 3 minutes faster if not for those annoying cheaters). The swim left me feeling refreshed and relaxed even though the pool was very warm. It was way too hot for the cuppa I'd planned, so we all got to bed at a respectable hour (about 9:30). Sadly, going to sleep wasn't so easy- the cabin was absolutely stifling. Phil and I had sweat beads forming on our brows as soon as our heads hit the pillows! I wasn't feeling particularly stressed or nervous, but I drifted in and out of vague sleep for the next few hours.
The one good thing about a disruptive night of sleep pre-race is that it's much easier to get up in the wee small hours. I was pretty chirpy when the alarm went off at 3:30- certainly much more so than last Rotorua. I couldn't be bothered making porridge in our "kitchen", so we all had oats with yoghurt, banana and blueberries for breakfast. It didn't really fill me up, so I ate an Em's Power Cookie, and also gagged down a banana while we were setting up.
We made it to transition at around 5am, just as it was opening. It was pretty quiet, which was nice for a change. We tend to cut it a little fine sometimes! It took a wee bit of time to get set up- checking and pumping our tyres, double checking my helmet to see if it fit (it didn't, and I spent a few seconds adjusting it), taping our Co2bras and pit stop cannisters to the bikes, and getting our nutrition all ready to go. It seemed like no time at all before it was time to get in the water for our warm up!
Part II to come soon!!
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Pre Race
We're off to Tauranga/the Mount tomorrow for the BIG EVENT.
My training's been OK this year, but probably a little down overall from last year- it seems the hectic pace of lawyering in Auckland may have worked for me! I'm also a little bit fat, much as I'd like to deny it. And my traditional race benchmarks have been, to be honest, a bit crap. So there's every reason to feel a little pessimistic about Tauranga, and I do.
But not TOO pessimistic. Just because I don't think I'll be quite doing "what I'm capable of" (actually, that's probably exactly what I'll do.....) doesn't mean I don't feel like I have a solid performance in me. I've been pretty open about the fact that doing Tauranga is about pretty much one thing- sub 6. And I've done enough that, even though sub 6 would be a 17 minute improvement on my best half ironman so far and a 29 minute improvement on my last, sub 6 should pretty much be cake. I'll be honest here- I'll be gutted with a finishing time that doesn't start with a 5.
Here are some goals/predictions:
Swim: anything under 40 is fine by me, but under 38 would be preferable, and a sub 37 would be awesome. If I could exit and get out on the bike by 41:00, I'd be chuffed.
Bike: I really, really, really, really want to break 3 hours, and I know I SHOULD be able to. Believing I can is a whole nother story. I'm still not riding the way I feel I should be, and I only just averaged 30kph over 40km at Tinman. Still, I'm hanging out for a 2:59:xx, and I'll be disappointed with anything over 3:05 (...aside from punctures... knock wood). 3:00 plus 40 plus 2:30 for transitions would give me nearly 2:20 for the run...
Run: I really, really, really, really want to break 2:00 in the run. I mean REALLY. But the Mount Track is actually kinda hard. And I kinda want to have nothing left at ALL after my epic 2:4x bike, so 2:05 to 2:10 would be OK. My previous half times are 2:13, 2:06 and 2:04, on quite tough but possibly short courses, so a sub 2:00 would be pushing it, but isn't totally unrealistic.
Based on these times, I'll most likely finish somewhere between 5:40 and 5:55. And that's probably my happy zone. Anything sub 5:40 and I'll be whooping for joy.
I'll be computer free for the next few days, but look out for twitter updates (NOT during the race this time, at least not from me!)
My training's been OK this year, but probably a little down overall from last year- it seems the hectic pace of lawyering in Auckland may have worked for me! I'm also a little bit fat, much as I'd like to deny it. And my traditional race benchmarks have been, to be honest, a bit crap. So there's every reason to feel a little pessimistic about Tauranga, and I do.
But not TOO pessimistic. Just because I don't think I'll be quite doing "what I'm capable of" (actually, that's probably exactly what I'll do.....) doesn't mean I don't feel like I have a solid performance in me. I've been pretty open about the fact that doing Tauranga is about pretty much one thing- sub 6. And I've done enough that, even though sub 6 would be a 17 minute improvement on my best half ironman so far and a 29 minute improvement on my last, sub 6 should pretty much be cake. I'll be honest here- I'll be gutted with a finishing time that doesn't start with a 5.
Here are some goals/predictions:
Swim: anything under 40 is fine by me, but under 38 would be preferable, and a sub 37 would be awesome. If I could exit and get out on the bike by 41:00, I'd be chuffed.
Bike: I really, really, really, really want to break 3 hours, and I know I SHOULD be able to. Believing I can is a whole nother story. I'm still not riding the way I feel I should be, and I only just averaged 30kph over 40km at Tinman. Still, I'm hanging out for a 2:59:xx, and I'll be disappointed with anything over 3:05 (...aside from punctures... knock wood). 3:00 plus 40 plus 2:30 for transitions would give me nearly 2:20 for the run...
Run: I really, really, really, really want to break 2:00 in the run. I mean REALLY. But the Mount Track is actually kinda hard. And I kinda want to have nothing left at ALL after my epic 2:4x bike, so 2:05 to 2:10 would be OK. My previous half times are 2:13, 2:06 and 2:04, on quite tough but possibly short courses, so a sub 2:00 would be pushing it, but isn't totally unrealistic.
Based on these times, I'll most likely finish somewhere between 5:40 and 5:55. And that's probably my happy zone. Anything sub 5:40 and I'll be whooping for joy.
I'll be computer free for the next few days, but look out for twitter updates (NOT during the race this time, at least not from me!)
2010
January 2010 started over gluhwein at a fireworks display in Bled, the first main stop on our European winter tour. We spent another three weeks or so overseas, and arrived home in time to catch the best parts of the New Zealand summer and to celebrate our first wedding anniversary.
Of course, "home" had changed, and February saw me figuring out how to get back to reality at the same time as adjusting to a new city, finding a new home, and starting a new job. February was also the month of my 28th birthday, and a great weekend of mountain biking with Phil in Rotorua. I did two mini triathlons, with a technical DNF in the first, and a second overall placing in the second.
In March, I started training with Coach Paul again. Phil started showing me the sweet rides around Cambridge, and I took my first kayaking lesson, with vague plans of going for my Grade 2 (that never came to fruition)! I also commuted to work for the first time, and loved it (which reminds me that I really didn't do it enough). I didn't post a lot here, and I didn't train a lot either (partly due to an exciting case at my new job). I was definitely struggling to settle into my new life and new routines- something that hasn't really changed. Oh yeah- and my sister got MARRIED!
April meant a big trial (including a week in Rotorua, and my first proper speaking role in Court), more mountain biking, Easter, a trip to Wellington, and a wet ride on the Makara loop. I didn't post AT ALL here, which is just shameful. Buckeye shows me I spent a lot of time doing Coach Paul's sadistic trainer intervals. I was happy to be running sub 6:00/ks at an "easy" if not "aerobic" pace, which really shows how far my running has come!
In May, we did even more mountain biking, which I recorded in this ode to my MTB, Maxwell the Silver Hammer. Since I started mountain biking a couple of years ago, there have been a few great rides that really made me feel confident about one day being able to ride (super easy) MTB races. This was definitely one of them. I also ran my first MAF test. My goal was to do the 8km in 45 minutes and I just about made it. Now I'm regularly running that pace without leaving E1! I also did my first guest post, and ran my first 10k race since 2007, in the satisfying but unspectacular time of 49:26. We tried to get ourselves a bit more involved in Waikato life, arranging blind "couple friend" dates, and heading along to local spin classes.
June was for darkness, inside and out. I struggled a LOT with the lack of lights in the country, and hated my morning and afternoon workouts. My running suffered, and my second MAF test was ghastly. Despite this, I entered my A race for the season, the Ports of Tauranga Half Ironman (which is now only two days away), hoping for a sweet sub-6 at long last.
In July, I passed my driving test. After too many visitors and weekends away, we stayed home and made the most of our weekend workouts in and around Cambridge, tackling the massive Sanitorium hill, running the Kairangi loop, and doing our second lap of Maungatautari in preparation for November's Karapiro Half Ironman.
August was ACONSO- "August: Choosing Other, Non-Supermarket, Options". We stayed away from the supermarkets for the entire month, getting our food from farmers' markets, Bin Inns and the greengrocers instead. We really enjoyed it, but haven't put our good habits into practice as much as we'd have liked. We spent a weekend in Wellington for Phil's 30th birthday. After a disastrous performance at the Taupo Half Marathon (so disastrous I never even did a race report) Coachy put me back on long runs, and I enjoyed some great adventure runs in Wellington and Hamilton. I was pissed off that slacker Phil was performing better than me, despite missing most of June and July due to the world cup. Grump.
Then came abstemious(booze free) September. I discovered that I didn't like not drinking, so cancelled Sober October and No Booze November, though I did try to cut back on the grog, and to clean up my weekend eating. I ran Sanitorium Hill, did my first 2hr + long run, and did my first 20km training run in ages. I started tracking my monthly stats, and was pleased with my average daily training time of 1.12 hours.
Instead of being sober, October was O for Oarsome. I went for my longest bike ride EVER with Phil and Mike, and managed to run a jolly solid 2 hour run the next day. I entered yet ANOTHER half ironman, and our "season" started in earnest, with 5k races and mini tris all over the place. I took my "current" 5k time from 24:xx to 23:19. We went to Taupo to camp and ride W2K. I wrote about training "performance", and adopted the phrase "Training is the studying, racing is the exam", which I've tried to keep in mind. I trained 30 of 31 days, and racked up 46 hours of training. October really was Oarsome.
November was "Oarsome" too, but for a different reason! I took a week off work to volunteer at the world rowing champs held on my doorstep at Lake Karapiro. I had to miss my usual 5k race (gutting, as it was a super fast night for everyone) and ran my own "race" instead, finishing in the acceptable "unsupported" time of 24:30. I also did my first big race of the season- the challenging Karapiro Half Ironman- and had my first ever DNF a couple of weeks later at the Contact Blue Lake event. November was a tough month for Kiwi cyclists, and I blogged about that here and here. It was a pretty solid month overall, as my stats showed.
In December I raced Tinman for the second time. My performance was pretty lacklustre, particularly my run, leaving me feeling pretty nervous about our half ironman this weekend. I was busy and very stressed as the holiday season approached, but got in most of my training, and had some very good runs and rides. We travelled to the Rotorua Half IM for a swim and a day of spectating, and did some great fast bricks in Cambridge and Kerikeri later in the month.
I'm not sure what 2011 is going to bring. The beginning of the year will be fairly full on with two half ironmen and the standard distance Nats in Wellington. I know if I'd done my best, I'd have a shot at long distance and standard distance worlds, but I haven't, and I'm a long way off the shape I feel I could be in, so Wellington will be just be a fun blat to top off an epic season. From then, who knows?
Of course, "home" had changed, and February saw me figuring out how to get back to reality at the same time as adjusting to a new city, finding a new home, and starting a new job. February was also the month of my 28th birthday, and a great weekend of mountain biking with Phil in Rotorua. I did two mini triathlons, with a technical DNF in the first, and a second overall placing in the second.
In March, I started training with Coach Paul again. Phil started showing me the sweet rides around Cambridge, and I took my first kayaking lesson, with vague plans of going for my Grade 2 (that never came to fruition)! I also commuted to work for the first time, and loved it (which reminds me that I really didn't do it enough). I didn't post a lot here, and I didn't train a lot either (partly due to an exciting case at my new job). I was definitely struggling to settle into my new life and new routines- something that hasn't really changed. Oh yeah- and my sister got MARRIED!
April meant a big trial (including a week in Rotorua, and my first proper speaking role in Court), more mountain biking, Easter, a trip to Wellington, and a wet ride on the Makara loop. I didn't post AT ALL here, which is just shameful. Buckeye shows me I spent a lot of time doing Coach Paul's sadistic trainer intervals. I was happy to be running sub 6:00/ks at an "easy" if not "aerobic" pace, which really shows how far my running has come!
In May, we did even more mountain biking, which I recorded in this ode to my MTB, Maxwell the Silver Hammer. Since I started mountain biking a couple of years ago, there have been a few great rides that really made me feel confident about one day being able to ride (super easy) MTB races. This was definitely one of them. I also ran my first MAF test. My goal was to do the 8km in 45 minutes and I just about made it. Now I'm regularly running that pace without leaving E1! I also did my first guest post, and ran my first 10k race since 2007, in the satisfying but unspectacular time of 49:26. We tried to get ourselves a bit more involved in Waikato life, arranging blind "couple friend" dates, and heading along to local spin classes.
June was for darkness, inside and out. I struggled a LOT with the lack of lights in the country, and hated my morning and afternoon workouts. My running suffered, and my second MAF test was ghastly. Despite this, I entered my A race for the season, the Ports of Tauranga Half Ironman (which is now only two days away), hoping for a sweet sub-6 at long last.
In July, I passed my driving test. After too many visitors and weekends away, we stayed home and made the most of our weekend workouts in and around Cambridge, tackling the massive Sanitorium hill, running the Kairangi loop, and doing our second lap of Maungatautari in preparation for November's Karapiro Half Ironman.
August was ACONSO- "August: Choosing Other, Non-Supermarket, Options". We stayed away from the supermarkets for the entire month, getting our food from farmers' markets, Bin Inns and the greengrocers instead. We really enjoyed it, but haven't put our good habits into practice as much as we'd have liked. We spent a weekend in Wellington for Phil's 30th birthday. After a disastrous performance at the Taupo Half Marathon (so disastrous I never even did a race report) Coachy put me back on long runs, and I enjoyed some great adventure runs in Wellington and Hamilton. I was pissed off that slacker Phil was performing better than me, despite missing most of June and July due to the world cup. Grump.
Then came abstemious(booze free) September. I discovered that I didn't like not drinking, so cancelled Sober October and No Booze November, though I did try to cut back on the grog, and to clean up my weekend eating. I ran Sanitorium Hill, did my first 2hr + long run, and did my first 20km training run in ages. I started tracking my monthly stats, and was pleased with my average daily training time of 1.12 hours.
Instead of being sober, October was O for Oarsome. I went for my longest bike ride EVER with Phil and Mike, and managed to run a jolly solid 2 hour run the next day. I entered yet ANOTHER half ironman, and our "season" started in earnest, with 5k races and mini tris all over the place. I took my "current" 5k time from 24:xx to 23:19. We went to Taupo to camp and ride W2K. I wrote about training "performance", and adopted the phrase "Training is the studying, racing is the exam", which I've tried to keep in mind. I trained 30 of 31 days, and racked up 46 hours of training. October really was Oarsome.
November was "Oarsome" too, but for a different reason! I took a week off work to volunteer at the world rowing champs held on my doorstep at Lake Karapiro. I had to miss my usual 5k race (gutting, as it was a super fast night for everyone) and ran my own "race" instead, finishing in the acceptable "unsupported" time of 24:30. I also did my first big race of the season- the challenging Karapiro Half Ironman- and had my first ever DNF a couple of weeks later at the Contact Blue Lake event. November was a tough month for Kiwi cyclists, and I blogged about that here and here. It was a pretty solid month overall, as my stats showed.
In December I raced Tinman for the second time. My performance was pretty lacklustre, particularly my run, leaving me feeling pretty nervous about our half ironman this weekend. I was busy and very stressed as the holiday season approached, but got in most of my training, and had some very good runs and rides. We travelled to the Rotorua Half IM for a swim and a day of spectating, and did some great fast bricks in Cambridge and Kerikeri later in the month.
I'm not sure what 2011 is going to bring. The beginning of the year will be fairly full on with two half ironmen and the standard distance Nats in Wellington. I know if I'd done my best, I'd have a shot at long distance and standard distance worlds, but I haven't, and I'm a long way off the shape I feel I could be in, so Wellington will be just be a fun blat to top off an epic season. From then, who knows?
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
December Stats
I've been a terribly delinquent blogger- December was a busy month, and we've just returned from a ten day camping trip- but I'm hoping to get up to date, as we have another week and a half off work (well, I have a week and a half... Phil has a week). Please bear with me as I post some belated December/2010/New Years type posts over the next few days.
First up, December stats!
December was a mixed month. A couple of average race performances and a big fat urgent case riiiight before Christmas (late nights for a whole week) had me feeling a bit meh.
But the numbers aren't too bad, I had a great swim at the Rotorua Half IM (37:55), and we did a good job of keeping up with training despite less than perfect weather and training grounds while on holiday, while having a marvellous time. And while I may not be thinner, at least I'm not fatter either!
So, here goes:
- Swim: 10:45 over 14 sessions (November 8:30)
- Bike: 20 hours over 12 sessions (November 24:44)
- Run: 12.5 hours over 16 sessions (November 7:47)
- Total hours: 43:15 (plus a 2 hour walk) (November 41)
- Average daily hours: 1:23 (November 1:22)
- Average run pace/AHR: 9:57 / 149.86 (November 151.88, 9:26/mi... the slower speed isn't surprising given the hills and offroad work we did on holiday!)
- Total calories burned 27,654 or 892 per day (November 19,190)
(go here for November stats and links to September and October)
First up, December stats!
December was a mixed month. A couple of average race performances and a big fat urgent case riiiight before Christmas (late nights for a whole week) had me feeling a bit meh.
But the numbers aren't too bad, I had a great swim at the Rotorua Half IM (37:55), and we did a good job of keeping up with training despite less than perfect weather and training grounds while on holiday, while having a marvellous time. And while I may not be thinner, at least I'm not fatter either!
So, here goes:
- Swim: 10:45 over 14 sessions (November 8:30)
- Bike: 20 hours over 12 sessions (November 24:44)
- Run: 12.5 hours over 16 sessions (November 7:47)
- Total hours: 43:15 (plus a 2 hour walk) (November 41)
- Average daily hours: 1:23 (November 1:22)
- Average run pace/AHR: 9:57 / 149.86 (November 151.88, 9:26/mi... the slower speed isn't surprising given the hills and offroad work we did on holiday!)
- Total calories burned 27,654 or 892 per day (November 19,190)
(go here for November stats and links to September and October)
Monday, December 06, 2010
A very quick post
I am feeling much better and saner after yesterday's race.
I'm not very sore, and my tightness is in all the right places (hammies and butt, not quads or calves). I've been buzzing with energy since about 4pm yesterday afternoon, and I was really happy with my swim tonight at squad (main set: 2 x 1000, mixed free and back). I'm really looking forward to jumping back on the bike tomorrow, and I can't wait to run.
It's just sunk in that in the last four weeks I've done a hard half ironman, a metric century training ride, (most of) a tough Olympic distance, and (all of) a not-so-tough Olympic distance. Phew! No wonder I'm a little overdone.
And more importantly, I have (nearly) five more weeks to train and recover for Tauranga. And two of those weeks are WORK FREE!
I'm not very sore, and my tightness is in all the right places (hammies and butt, not quads or calves). I've been buzzing with energy since about 4pm yesterday afternoon, and I was really happy with my swim tonight at squad (main set: 2 x 1000, mixed free and back). I'm really looking forward to jumping back on the bike tomorrow, and I can't wait to run.
It's just sunk in that in the last four weeks I've done a hard half ironman, a metric century training ride, (most of) a tough Olympic distance, and (all of) a not-so-tough Olympic distance. Phew! No wonder I'm a little overdone.
And more importantly, I have (nearly) five more weeks to train and recover for Tauranga. And two of those weeks are WORK FREE!
Sunday, December 05, 2010
Race Report: Tinman, or aluminium foil man?
(Our performances didn't justify chips or beer, so we had yummy salad and smoothies at Pluto. Mine was like a strawberry pina colada- divine!)
Today was our second time at Tinman. Last year, it was a real confidence booster, and I set my Olympic Distance PB feeling like I still had plenty in the tank. This year it was...not so much.
I needed Tinman to be a redemption race after my sluggish performance and DNF at last week's Contact Series event, and my disappointing day at the Karapiro Half. Couch Paul wanted us fresh, so we had a nice light week leading up to the race, so I felt like redemption might be possible.
Swim
Last year's swim was awesome, but definitely *fast* if not actually short, so I knew I couldn't repeat my 24:51 (out of the water). It was a rough, washing machine type swim. Good practice for Tauranga Half. This year was even rougher- at least for me! I think it was also slower on the whole- from brief discussions, times seem to have been slower overall, and since conditions on the bike and run were great, I blame the swim. I was pulled and thwacked and hit and swum over, and kept having one particularly annoying lady stop dead in front of me. Then, as I approached the first lap buoy, a woman who'd missed it and turned around decided to swim straight smack into me, and I got a jolly great whack in the eye. The water was fine- I'd never call it choppy- but I'm unaccustomed to sea swimming, and the waves made me feel a little iffy. I figured out that I've only been IN the sea once since last Tinman- and that was Mission Bay the week after! I was out around the turn around buoy in 14:xx, and out of the swim just after 30:00. Ouch!
T1 was a disaster- I lost a good 8+ female places and maybe a minute mucking around with my helmet. Lesson: always check helmet before leaving bike in transition. Eventually, I got it adjusted, but did it a bit too small, so I had helmet throb for the whole ride. When I pulled it off after the ride, I swear my head grew.
Bike
I felt really good on the bike, and was happy with my riding, passing and so on. My goal was to come in sub-1:20- last year I averaged a little over 30kph on the bike, but the course is a little long, so I knew I would need to keep safely under 2:00/ks to get in (I ride with my Garmin, so I'm looking at pace not speed). The people I was riding with were less annoying than last time, thankfully, and it was good for me to get used to a crowded course again. This year, my biggest bugbear was the bunch of people who decided that it would be smart to pass at the turnaround point. It's a big enough turn, as it's around a roundabout, but really? I was basically squashed by them, and then another lady practically rode into me. Sigh. Luckily I passed her safely a bit later- she really irritated me. I leapfrogged with that woman and another couple of people for most of the way back to transition (on the first lap), but got stuck behind some annoying slow sprint people at the turnaround and lost them for most of the second lap. I was pleased to see Kieran Doe coming into his T2 after I left for the second lap (not being lapped = important goal).
I faltered a little for the first couple of ks of lap 2. Where previously I'd been doing 1:50s, I was doing 2:01s- the unwelcome 2s were enough to spur me on, and I reached the 40k point in 1:17, which I was pleased with, and got back into T2 in 1:21.08 (Garmin says this was nearly 42ks). I thought I'd taken a couple of minutes off my time last year, but it seems it was probably only a minute or so (last year's results didn't separate out transition). I guess I only felt better and stronger because I was riding with slower people, after my crappy swim :(
Run
Last year, my run was awesome. I started off running high 4:00s, but slowed a bit on the mount track. I finished the run in 53:17, which was slower than I'd hoped, but very good considering the slightly long run, and the hills on the base track. This year, I knew from the outset it wouldn't be quite like that. I'd tried to ride like I wasn't going to run (...fat lot of good that did me...) and I basically waddled out of T2. My butt was killing me! My pace was around the 5:20s- a good 20-30s/k slower than last year- and it was much harder to pick people off, though mostly still possible. I felt a bit steadier in my effort- rather than taking off and then dying on the Mount, I was a little more restrained, and I felt like I didn't suffer as much- though my pace slowed to 5:50s, so I guess it was about the same. I got myself over the finish line with the promise of a Spider (... Kiwi for Coke Float), and was pretty gutted to see the main clock flicking over to 2:56 (so 2:54 for me). Official run time was 57:42 (Garmin has me slower, because it includes the run from my bike to the end of transition), and official overall time was 2:54:07 (grr- 2:53:xx sounds way better!)
So, that's 8 minutes slower, in a race I really thought I could do better. A bit gutted, and the time doesn't bode well for the 5:45 I've been hoping for in Tauranga. But we have 5 weeks left, and no more silly races, so maybe I can finally do something right this season???
(PS: Thanks to Mike for spectating and picture taking!)
Thursday, December 02, 2010
Gnarly November: Stats
(See my stats for September and October)
November was a weird month, as we’re combining training and racing. That means trying to get as much good fitness work in, but adding some extra rest days before and after tough events. It was a hard month, and maybe a somewhat disappointing start to the race season, but that's just life. Onwards and upwards!
The end result:
o Bike hours: 24:44, over 17 sessions (October- 22:00)
o Run hours: 7:47, over 11 sessions (October- 19:15)
o Swim hours: 8:30, over 12 sessions (October- 5:15)
o Total hours: 41 (just over a work-week), over 40 sessions
o Average training time per day: 1:22 (October- 1:30)
o Average run pace/AHR: 9:26/mi, 151.88 (October- 9:41/mile, 152.89)
o Total calories burned: 19,190 (or 639 per day) (October- 26,600)
There were some real lowlights:
but plenty of highlights too:
I think we're all holding on for a happy December, and a merry Christmas!
November was a weird month, as we’re combining training and racing. That means trying to get as much good fitness work in, but adding some extra rest days before and after tough events. It was a hard month, and maybe a somewhat disappointing start to the race season, but that's just life. Onwards and upwards!
The end result:
o Bike hours: 24:44, over 17 sessions (October- 22:00)
o Run hours: 7:47, over 11 sessions (October- 19:15)
o Swim hours: 8:30, over 12 sessions (October- 5:15)
o Total hours: 41 (just over a work-week), over 40 sessions
o Average training time per day: 1:22 (October- 1:30)
o Average run pace/AHR: 9:26/mi, 151.88 (October- 9:41/mile, 152.89)
o Total calories burned: 19,190 (or 639 per day) (October- 26,600)
There were some real lowlights:
- I had my first ever DNF
- 3 cyclists were killed in our region when a car hit their group (and two more killed elsewhere)
but plenty of highlights too:
- I volunteered for a week at the World Rowing Champs
- I finished my third half ironman!
- I joined 504 other cyclists to remember and reflect, and to celebrate our sport and our community
I think we're all holding on for a happy December, and a merry Christmas!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Race Report: Contact Tri Series- Blue Lake
(previous Blue Lake reports are here and here!)
One of our favourite races of every season is the first Contact Cup event at Blue Lake in Rotorua (THE best triathlon spot in the country). In previous years, it's been a good test of our fitness leading up to our A race- the Rotorua Half Ironman, which is held in the same location. But we love it so much- despite what appears from those race reports, that we decided we had to do it again this year (even though we're building up to Tauranga, and even though we had our first half ironman just two weeks ago!)
Pre-race For the first time, we live near enough to Blue Lake to save on accommodation and sleep at home. Woop! Of course, this DID mean getting up at 5:30am. Not my favourite start to a Sunday. Usually I'm a box of fluffy ducks pre-race, but this morning I was tired and irritable and my tum was uneasy- instead of wolfing my breakfast down, I packed it up in an empty yoghurt pottle and waited until we were driving to eat it. I finally confessed to Phil that I'd started feeling off the previous afternoon. He'd felt unwell in the morning, so he'd skipped our cruisy day of training (2k swim, 1 hour bike), but I'd felt fine, and had a pretty good training session. It was only after a long lunch in the sun that my fatigue started to catch up with me.
Swim By the time we got to Blue Lake, I was feeling a bit more chipper. Although I wasn't 100% I decided I was well enough to train and, if I was well enough to train, I'd be well enough to race. Good logic, yes? I wetsuited up, squeezed in a quick warm up, and then we were off! I lost the main bunch of ladies pretty early on, but I felt OK, if a little breathless, and I had company around me. After the first buoy (250m) I found some feet, and I stuck with them for the remaining 1250! I might have been able to go faster by myself, but it wasn't worth the extra for a training race. I wasn't wearing a watch, but the time on my Garmin was 9:49 (in theory, 31:00) by the time I raced up the hill to T1 and found my bike, so I'm thinking 29:xx swim time.
Bike They changed the bike course on us this year, but the first 8ks or so was the same- up Tarawera Rd out of transition and around the Okareka loop. I found the first climb much harder than usual- adrenaline, I guess, but usually I'm pounding up it. This time it was more of a crawl, but I was gaining on the ladies in front of me, so I wasn't too bothered up. I've obviously lost some descending skills since I've been out of Welly, as I was a bit timid this time. There had been a car accident at the bottom of the tricky bit, which slowed us down a little- the lady ahead of me slowed quite abruptly so I slammed on the brakes. I passed three ladies on the final climb, and was pretty stoked when they didn't immediately catch me on the descent.
From the bottom of Okareka, we headed out towards Green Lake instead of going back for another loop right away. It's basically biggish rollers all the way out- fun, but just tough enough to make it hard to get into a rhythm- especially after a spin around Okareka. I seemed to be going along OK- I was keeping ahead of my friends, anyway. There was a man standing by a bright orange barrel a little way past the lookout- I saw the lady in front of me whizz round it and start heading down the hill, so I started to follow. The man seemed to gesture that I should head between him and the barrel, and I assumed the turnaround was at the bottom of the hill to the right of the barrel. Then I saw the woman who had been in front of me walking her bike up the hill I was about to head down, accompanied by a marshall. The marshall seemed to have left her post, stopping people from going down the hill, and barrel man needed to work on his "head back UP" skills!
Unfortunately, it wasn't so simple just to turn around. We'd just been hammering down a big ol' hill, and I was in my biggest gear. Turning back up the steep old hill just wasn't going to happen- and by the time I figured out what was going on, I'd had to stop short and clip out. So I jumped off, played around, dropped my chain and finally got into a much better gear. By the time I took off back up the hill, I'd lost two minutes, and all of my new friends had passed me and blitzed off into the distance.
I was a little disheartened, and it was awhile before I felt like I could be awesome instead, but I decided to dig deep and to catch as many of the women as possible over the next loop. I knew I was a better climber than them, so it was at least plausible. Seeing people behind me on my way back (including two I'd identified as people to beat) definitely spurred me on, as did realising I'd only been lapped once (the benefit of a 2-lap, rather than 5 lap, course). I was slow up Tarawera again, but stronger on the downhills, and not bad up the other side either. I was gaining on one of the women, but couldn't quite catch her on the way up, so I chased her out to Green Lake (where I made sure to get the turn right...)
My legs were jelly when I rode into T2, but it was time to run, and I knew I'd be catching the others soon!
Run
As usual, I started off well. The run starts downhill and on the road before heading up a couple of steepish climbs on a gravel verge, and then heading onto a rolling forest track. I met Phil about 1km in- the same place I met him in 2008! But by the end of the second hill, I was faltering. I couldn't put my finger on it- my legs were OK, my HR was fine, but I was feeling much more fatigued than I usually would be at this point in the race. I walked the drink station heading into the forest and seriously thought about turning around and walking back, before deciding to give it a shot. There was a woman in front of me walking, so I jogged past her, which made me feel momentarily better. But as soon as we hit the shade I went from hot and shaky to shivery and shaky, and I realised my wee lurgy was catching up with me. I stopped and hit my stop watch after walking the first two short hills, but decided to man up and carry on. This carried on for the next few ks- I could run slooowly downhill, but was pretty much wheezing on the uphills, and feeling like pants. I decided I would just hang on as best I could and make up my mind when I got to the end of the first loop. I knew I'd see Phil and that he could help me make the right decision.
After nearly 40 minutes (I think), I made it back to the lake. I heard Phil cheering for me, and I beckoned him over to me, but the ground was hot and he couldn't run. I paused at the beach drink station, and realised I needed to quit. I could have continued, but it is not like me to reconsider starting again, and I knew it was the sickness rather than just heat and fatigue. So instead of heading back up the hills, I headed into the lake, and slowly walked over to where Phil was standing. I handed in my timing chip, chatted to Phil about the race, and moped a little.
Aftermath This is a standard, patented Kate Head-Cold, and they're notoriously up and down. I felt OK immediately after pulling out, but could barely stomach my scone down at lunch. I napped in the car on the way home, and headed straight to bed when I got here. I'm still feeling a bit off, so I'm drinking a lemon and ginger drink and planning an early night. Luckily, I've recovered very quickly from the Kate Head-Cold every time it's reared its ugly head this year, so I'm confident that I'll be right as rain for Tinman!
Comment
I was feeling a bit glum, not about not finishing, but about my general my performance. I remembered this time last year, when I had a solid race at Blue Lake, followed up by a good Tinman. This year, I've been disappointed so far. But then I remembered that LAST year, we didn't do a half ironman (followed by a 100km bike the next weekend) before the Rotovegas/Tinman double. Hmm- that might have something to do with it?
One of our favourite races of every season is the first Contact Cup event at Blue Lake in Rotorua (THE best triathlon spot in the country). In previous years, it's been a good test of our fitness leading up to our A race- the Rotorua Half Ironman, which is held in the same location. But we love it so much- despite what appears from those race reports, that we decided we had to do it again this year (even though we're building up to Tauranga, and even though we had our first half ironman just two weeks ago!)
Pre-race For the first time, we live near enough to Blue Lake to save on accommodation and sleep at home. Woop! Of course, this DID mean getting up at 5:30am. Not my favourite start to a Sunday. Usually I'm a box of fluffy ducks pre-race, but this morning I was tired and irritable and my tum was uneasy- instead of wolfing my breakfast down, I packed it up in an empty yoghurt pottle and waited until we were driving to eat it. I finally confessed to Phil that I'd started feeling off the previous afternoon. He'd felt unwell in the morning, so he'd skipped our cruisy day of training (2k swim, 1 hour bike), but I'd felt fine, and had a pretty good training session. It was only after a long lunch in the sun that my fatigue started to catch up with me.
Swim By the time we got to Blue Lake, I was feeling a bit more chipper. Although I wasn't 100% I decided I was well enough to train and, if I was well enough to train, I'd be well enough to race. Good logic, yes? I wetsuited up, squeezed in a quick warm up, and then we were off! I lost the main bunch of ladies pretty early on, but I felt OK, if a little breathless, and I had company around me. After the first buoy (250m) I found some feet, and I stuck with them for the remaining 1250! I might have been able to go faster by myself, but it wasn't worth the extra for a training race. I wasn't wearing a watch, but the time on my Garmin was 9:49 (in theory, 31:00) by the time I raced up the hill to T1 and found my bike, so I'm thinking 29:xx swim time.
Bike They changed the bike course on us this year, but the first 8ks or so was the same- up Tarawera Rd out of transition and around the Okareka loop. I found the first climb much harder than usual- adrenaline, I guess, but usually I'm pounding up it. This time it was more of a crawl, but I was gaining on the ladies in front of me, so I wasn't too bothered up. I've obviously lost some descending skills since I've been out of Welly, as I was a bit timid this time. There had been a car accident at the bottom of the tricky bit, which slowed us down a little- the lady ahead of me slowed quite abruptly so I slammed on the brakes. I passed three ladies on the final climb, and was pretty stoked when they didn't immediately catch me on the descent.
From the bottom of Okareka, we headed out towards Green Lake instead of going back for another loop right away. It's basically biggish rollers all the way out- fun, but just tough enough to make it hard to get into a rhythm- especially after a spin around Okareka. I seemed to be going along OK- I was keeping ahead of my friends, anyway. There was a man standing by a bright orange barrel a little way past the lookout- I saw the lady in front of me whizz round it and start heading down the hill, so I started to follow. The man seemed to gesture that I should head between him and the barrel, and I assumed the turnaround was at the bottom of the hill to the right of the barrel. Then I saw the woman who had been in front of me walking her bike up the hill I was about to head down, accompanied by a marshall. The marshall seemed to have left her post, stopping people from going down the hill, and barrel man needed to work on his "head back UP" skills!
Unfortunately, it wasn't so simple just to turn around. We'd just been hammering down a big ol' hill, and I was in my biggest gear. Turning back up the steep old hill just wasn't going to happen- and by the time I figured out what was going on, I'd had to stop short and clip out. So I jumped off, played around, dropped my chain and finally got into a much better gear. By the time I took off back up the hill, I'd lost two minutes, and all of my new friends had passed me and blitzed off into the distance.
I was a little disheartened, and it was awhile before I felt like I could be awesome instead, but I decided to dig deep and to catch as many of the women as possible over the next loop. I knew I was a better climber than them, so it was at least plausible. Seeing people behind me on my way back (including two I'd identified as people to beat) definitely spurred me on, as did realising I'd only been lapped once (the benefit of a 2-lap, rather than 5 lap, course). I was slow up Tarawera again, but stronger on the downhills, and not bad up the other side either. I was gaining on one of the women, but couldn't quite catch her on the way up, so I chased her out to Green Lake (where I made sure to get the turn right...)
My legs were jelly when I rode into T2, but it was time to run, and I knew I'd be catching the others soon!
Run
As usual, I started off well. The run starts downhill and on the road before heading up a couple of steepish climbs on a gravel verge, and then heading onto a rolling forest track. I met Phil about 1km in- the same place I met him in 2008! But by the end of the second hill, I was faltering. I couldn't put my finger on it- my legs were OK, my HR was fine, but I was feeling much more fatigued than I usually would be at this point in the race. I walked the drink station heading into the forest and seriously thought about turning around and walking back, before deciding to give it a shot. There was a woman in front of me walking, so I jogged past her, which made me feel momentarily better. But as soon as we hit the shade I went from hot and shaky to shivery and shaky, and I realised my wee lurgy was catching up with me. I stopped and hit my stop watch after walking the first two short hills, but decided to man up and carry on. This carried on for the next few ks- I could run slooowly downhill, but was pretty much wheezing on the uphills, and feeling like pants. I decided I would just hang on as best I could and make up my mind when I got to the end of the first loop. I knew I'd see Phil and that he could help me make the right decision.
After nearly 40 minutes (I think), I made it back to the lake. I heard Phil cheering for me, and I beckoned him over to me, but the ground was hot and he couldn't run. I paused at the beach drink station, and realised I needed to quit. I could have continued, but it is not like me to reconsider starting again, and I knew it was the sickness rather than just heat and fatigue. So instead of heading back up the hills, I headed into the lake, and slowly walked over to where Phil was standing. I handed in my timing chip, chatted to Phil about the race, and moped a little.
Aftermath This is a standard, patented Kate Head-Cold, and they're notoriously up and down. I felt OK immediately after pulling out, but could barely stomach my scone down at lunch. I napped in the car on the way home, and headed straight to bed when I got here. I'm still feeling a bit off, so I'm drinking a lemon and ginger drink and planning an early night. Luckily, I've recovered very quickly from the Kate Head-Cold every time it's reared its ugly head this year, so I'm confident that I'll be right as rain for Tinman!
Comment
I was feeling a bit glum, not about not finishing, but about my general my performance. I remembered this time last year, when I had a solid race at Blue Lake, followed up by a good Tinman. This year, I've been disappointed so far. But then I remembered that LAST year, we didn't do a half ironman (followed by a 100km bike the next weekend) before the Rotovegas/Tinman double. Hmm- that might have something to do with it?
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Ride of Remembrance and Reflection
"We need to keep on cycling, and keep on meeting new and wonderful friends, just as Willy, Mark and Kay were, our wonderful friends." (Terry Semmens, Morrinsville Wheelers club president)
Phil and I were fortunate enough to be able to attend the Morrinsville Wheelers Ride for Remembrance and Reflection on Tuesday night. The club arranged this ride, with the support of the Morrinsville community, police and fire service, after three of their members were killed in a horrible accident.
We hoped that other cyclists in the community would be behind the ride, but didn't really know what to expect. It wasn't until we got out of central Hamilton that we realised the ride was going to be big. The roads were peppered with people on bikes, travelling in groups (...in single file, haterz, in single file), in club gear, shop kit or hi-vis, and they were all heading in the same direction.
We parked in a shopping centre carpark in central Morrinsville and prepared to ride to the starting point. The carpark was buzzing- the mood was subdued, but still somehow electric- with mountain bikers and roadies of all shapes, sizes and ages. We headed out to the start (about 2k away) in dribs and drabs, and soon found ourselves crowding into a paddock with hundreds of other people with bikes. I've been to cycle events before, so it's not the first time I've been around hundreds of people with bikes, but the sense of camaraderie mingled with sombreness made it something completely different. We were shepherded towards the back of the pack, where we found ourselves next to Bike Fit David (aka cyclenutnz). We identified jerseys from all around the Waikato- Te Awamutu, Hamilton, Kaimai Cycles, Tokoroa- and even some from Auckland. I think the youngest person-on-bike I saw was about 11 or 12, and the oldest was about as old as time.
The ride started with a short memorial ceremony, where we heard from the President of the Morrinsville Wheelers and the husband of Kay Wolfe (one of the people-on-bikes killed in the accident) and then a race briefing from the police and ride organisers. The memorial was incredibly moving, and incredibly optimistic. The quote above particularly resonated with me- and there's nothing quite like the sound of 1000 cycle gloves clapping!
We slowly filed out in our pairs. I'm not accustomed to bunch riding, but I'm comfortable enough with Eric now to handle a group, at least at snail's pace! The ride took us about 21km around a gorgeous country route. It was mid evening, and a perfect summer's day- just spectacular. Unfortunately, people will be people, and the ride was not always as orderly as it could be. I found myself very frustrated by people who insisted on passing, apparently just for the sake of gap filling (typical Waikato behaviour- exhibited frequently by people-in-cars too). Particularly frustrating were the bunch of local cyclists who passed us (we were just moseying along behind a much slower group), and proceeded to fill the road at about 15 km/h for the next good 20 minutes. We had to scream our heads off every time a car came up. I almost don't want to write about it- this should have been an opportunity to be BEYOND REPROACH.
But people are people, and people are dicks sometimes, whether they're on cars or bikes or neither
Finally we got past- we weren't in a hurry, but we were feeling a bit lonely right at the tail end of the long, long line, and there was empty space for miles in front. From then on, the ride went from momentous to awesome rad fun. We were pretty much alone for hundreds of metres at a time, so we could play around (safely... duh!) with random power intervals until we caught up with another pair. There's nothing quite like playing catch up to make you feel awesome!
Towards the end of the route, we moved back into lifestyle block territory. The locals were amazing! One woman stood at her gate and whooped and waved, and another sat in her car in her driveway- she had plenty of room to leave, but it seemed like she just decided to stay and show her support (that's what I'm believing, anyway). We passed a "Wheeler" counting people- we were 463 and 464, and we guessed there were 30 or so still behind us (we weren't far off- they counted 505 in total).
We'd left our front lights in the car, so we decided not to stick around for tea/coffee and chat (especially since we had to get back to Cambridge for dinner). We made our way back to the carpark, and headed home, giving all the people on bikes a wide berth and a wave.
I'm very grateful to the Morrinsville Wheelers for organising this ride. It was so painful for so many people, but so heartwarming, and so valuable for our riding community. We will keep riding. We will keep meeting wonderful friends and awesome people. And one day, we will see this wonderful country turn into a safe and wonderful place for all of its residents.
RIDE ON!
Phil and I were fortunate enough to be able to attend the Morrinsville Wheelers Ride for Remembrance and Reflection on Tuesday night. The club arranged this ride, with the support of the Morrinsville community, police and fire service, after three of their members were killed in a horrible accident.
We hoped that other cyclists in the community would be behind the ride, but didn't really know what to expect. It wasn't until we got out of central Hamilton that we realised the ride was going to be big. The roads were peppered with people on bikes, travelling in groups (...in single file, haterz, in single file), in club gear, shop kit or hi-vis, and they were all heading in the same direction.
We parked in a shopping centre carpark in central Morrinsville and prepared to ride to the starting point. The carpark was buzzing- the mood was subdued, but still somehow electric- with mountain bikers and roadies of all shapes, sizes and ages. We headed out to the start (about 2k away) in dribs and drabs, and soon found ourselves crowding into a paddock with hundreds of other people with bikes. I've been to cycle events before, so it's not the first time I've been around hundreds of people with bikes, but the sense of camaraderie mingled with sombreness made it something completely different. We were shepherded towards the back of the pack, where we found ourselves next to Bike Fit David (aka cyclenutnz). We identified jerseys from all around the Waikato- Te Awamutu, Hamilton, Kaimai Cycles, Tokoroa- and even some from Auckland. I think the youngest person-on-bike I saw was about 11 or 12, and the oldest was about as old as time.
The ride started with a short memorial ceremony, where we heard from the President of the Morrinsville Wheelers and the husband of Kay Wolfe (one of the people-on-bikes killed in the accident) and then a race briefing from the police and ride organisers. The memorial was incredibly moving, and incredibly optimistic. The quote above particularly resonated with me- and there's nothing quite like the sound of 1000 cycle gloves clapping!
We slowly filed out in our pairs. I'm not accustomed to bunch riding, but I'm comfortable enough with Eric now to handle a group, at least at snail's pace! The ride took us about 21km around a gorgeous country route. It was mid evening, and a perfect summer's day- just spectacular. Unfortunately, people will be people, and the ride was not always as orderly as it could be. I found myself very frustrated by people who insisted on passing, apparently just for the sake of gap filling (typical Waikato behaviour- exhibited frequently by people-in-cars too). Particularly frustrating were the bunch of local cyclists who passed us (we were just moseying along behind a much slower group), and proceeded to fill the road at about 15 km/h for the next good 20 minutes. We had to scream our heads off every time a car came up. I almost don't want to write about it- this should have been an opportunity to be BEYOND REPROACH.
But people are people, and people are dicks sometimes, whether they're on cars or bikes or neither
Finally we got past- we weren't in a hurry, but we were feeling a bit lonely right at the tail end of the long, long line, and there was empty space for miles in front. From then on, the ride went from momentous to awesome rad fun. We were pretty much alone for hundreds of metres at a time, so we could play around (safely... duh!) with random power intervals until we caught up with another pair. There's nothing quite like playing catch up to make you feel awesome!
Towards the end of the route, we moved back into lifestyle block territory. The locals were amazing! One woman stood at her gate and whooped and waved, and another sat in her car in her driveway- she had plenty of room to leave, but it seemed like she just decided to stay and show her support (that's what I'm believing, anyway). We passed a "Wheeler" counting people- we were 463 and 464, and we guessed there were 30 or so still behind us (we weren't far off- they counted 505 in total).
We'd left our front lights in the car, so we decided not to stick around for tea/coffee and chat (especially since we had to get back to Cambridge for dinner). We made our way back to the carpark, and headed home, giving all the people on bikes a wide berth and a wave.
I'm very grateful to the Morrinsville Wheelers for organising this ride. It was so painful for so many people, but so heartwarming, and so valuable for our riding community. We will keep riding. We will keep meeting wonderful friends and awesome people. And one day, we will see this wonderful country turn into a safe and wonderful place for all of its residents.
RIDE ON!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Adventure ride #3: a roller coaster of emotions
So much for regular adventure rides! With the rowing and racing and everything, today was my first long bike ride in a while!
Phil and I were without our best riding buddy and, since Phil is off to a gig tonight, we decided it would be best to keep our adventure ride local, and hunted around for a new route near Cambridge. This 100k loop looked perfect.
After a patchy start (crossing the dam, turning right on SH3...) we found ourselves on the most marvellous riding road ever created. A smooth, single lane country road. I think we saw 3 cars in 20km- literally. It was bliss! A few ks in, I noticed some "tourist arrows" (indicating which side of the road to drive on.... maybe I should call them "Kiwi driver arrows"??) and wondered why- then turned my head and realised we were riding past Hobbiton. It certainly looked like something out of a NZ Tourism guide- horses with their foals, lambs in paddocks full of flowers. The first 40ks or so were sheer perfection.
We knew the route, but we didn't really know where we were. We'd turned left onto a very slightly busier road, and ridden along for a few ks, when I noticed a bunch of odd black marks on the road, and I saw that Phil had stopped ahead.
I soon realised why. We didn't know we were heading to it, but we were there.
There were bunches of flowers tied to the fence, and a Swiss flag waving. It was an image I knew well from news reports over the past horrible week (but when I tried to find one to post, I couldn't, and the hunt became too distressing). We stopped and shared a moment of sadness. And then our curiosity got the better of us, and we looked back. And saw the corner, and started reconstructing things in our heads. We knew what had happened, but we could really SEE it now. It's a sharpish corner on a fairly quiet two lane road. There's a single yellow line on the right hand side. You can see why someone would be tempted to cut it, but it's also blindingly obvious that that would be a ridiculously bad idea. Because even if there wasn't a pack of f**king cyclists on the other side, there could be a car, which could be carrying a family of 5, or a pregnant woman, or a ridiculous sweet old couple on their way home from a picnic.
*Rant Begins*
And as we sat there, feeling blue, and torn between staying and paying our respects, and getting the holy fuck out of there, a black car screeched round the bend, cut the corner, sailed into the right lane, and didn't get back to the left until he'd nearly passed us. I was livid, and my goal of being friendly and smiley to even the worst of the motorists was out the window. I was SERIOUSLY pissed off. This accident has been all over the news, and people familiar with the area would have known right where it was, and would have seen the memorial themselves. And then, as we saddled up to move on our merry way, another car came lurching round. It too cut the corner. Slowing down and sticking to the left is overrated, it seems.
I'd like to think profound sadness and real anger would be enough emotion for one ride, but I was wrong. A few ks on we were riding up a hill on a narrowish road- not really enough room for traffic to move both ways. The sort of road where you really need to be mindful. We didn't make a hell of a lot of difference. I was scrunched up to the left and Phil was around 50-100m ahead of me (...ok, I have no idea. He was a wee way up though). A white car was coming down the road, and I could hear a truck rumbling away behind me. The road was straight at this point. All of a sudden, I heard a whooosh, and a crash of brakes, and my heart leapt right out of my chest. I felt the truck stop behind me, and I accelerated like a mad thing, my heart pounding and my eyes prickling. The white car went by, then the truck eased past me.* He went carefully and slowly past Phil, and he was gone. I was still shaking when I got to Phil- shaking, crying, and pissed.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realise that when you're driving on country roads, you need to look ahead. If you can't see ahead, you need to slow down. This isn't about cyclist protection, or the great cyclist/motorist "debate" the media insists on stirring up every time a person on a bike DIES. It's simple road safety. It's COMMON SENSE. I could have been or a horse, or a pedestrian, or some cows, or a tractor, or just a car driving at a sensible speed around the corner.
*Rant over*
But despite the anger, sadness and fear, the overwhelming feeling ending today's ride is gratitude. I always try to make sure I'm courteous to other road users. If someone passes me respectfully, I give them a wave. If someone is held up momentarily as a I ride past an intersection, I say "cheers." But today I aimed extra hard for a 100% courtesy rating- I was waving and thumbs-upping my little hands off (...and yes, keeping well and truly to the left while doing so...) And of the two hundred odd motorists I met today, a good 180 were great. Another 15 or so were super awesome, and only about 5 were cocks. We felt we were given more respect and more room than usual by a number of motorists, and we are VERY grateful for the respect and concern they showed us. We showed our respect, and I hope they could see how much we appreciated it.
(...then we rode another 50ks or so until we got home. The End.)
*No doubt the story will be re-told on yourviews one day. In that version, Phil and I will be riding two abreast, probably taking up the whole road. The truck will give me a polite toot and ask to go past, and I'll turn around, wiggle my bum in the air and shout "f**k YOU!!!!!!" (I'm good at multitasking while I climb, you see). Then instead of bursting into tears, I'll stop, throw a leppin gel and "roundly abuse" the poor guy. I won't be wearing any hi-vis gear, and it will be a busy high-speed road, instead of a virtually deserted country road.
** I am not a member of the Morrinsville Wheelers, and I did not know Mark Ferguson, Kaye Wolfe or Willie Muller. I am beyond thankful that I have not been involved in a cycle, car, or anything else crash. My thoughts and best wishes and prayers are with their friends and families.
Phil and I were without our best riding buddy and, since Phil is off to a gig tonight, we decided it would be best to keep our adventure ride local, and hunted around for a new route near Cambridge. This 100k loop looked perfect.
After a patchy start (crossing the dam, turning right on SH3...) we found ourselves on the most marvellous riding road ever created. A smooth, single lane country road. I think we saw 3 cars in 20km- literally. It was bliss! A few ks in, I noticed some "tourist arrows" (indicating which side of the road to drive on.... maybe I should call them "Kiwi driver arrows"??) and wondered why- then turned my head and realised we were riding past Hobbiton. It certainly looked like something out of a NZ Tourism guide- horses with their foals, lambs in paddocks full of flowers. The first 40ks or so were sheer perfection.
We knew the route, but we didn't really know where we were. We'd turned left onto a very slightly busier road, and ridden along for a few ks, when I noticed a bunch of odd black marks on the road, and I saw that Phil had stopped ahead.
I soon realised why. We didn't know we were heading to it, but we were there.
There were bunches of flowers tied to the fence, and a Swiss flag waving. It was an image I knew well from news reports over the past horrible week (but when I tried to find one to post, I couldn't, and the hunt became too distressing). We stopped and shared a moment of sadness. And then our curiosity got the better of us, and we looked back. And saw the corner, and started reconstructing things in our heads. We knew what had happened, but we could really SEE it now. It's a sharpish corner on a fairly quiet two lane road. There's a single yellow line on the right hand side. You can see why someone would be tempted to cut it, but it's also blindingly obvious that that would be a ridiculously bad idea. Because even if there wasn't a pack of f**king cyclists on the other side, there could be a car, which could be carrying a family of 5, or a pregnant woman, or a ridiculous sweet old couple on their way home from a picnic.
*Rant Begins*
And as we sat there, feeling blue, and torn between staying and paying our respects, and getting the holy fuck out of there, a black car screeched round the bend, cut the corner, sailed into the right lane, and didn't get back to the left until he'd nearly passed us. I was livid, and my goal of being friendly and smiley to even the worst of the motorists was out the window. I was SERIOUSLY pissed off. This accident has been all over the news, and people familiar with the area would have known right where it was, and would have seen the memorial themselves. And then, as we saddled up to move on our merry way, another car came lurching round. It too cut the corner. Slowing down and sticking to the left is overrated, it seems.
I'd like to think profound sadness and real anger would be enough emotion for one ride, but I was wrong. A few ks on we were riding up a hill on a narrowish road- not really enough room for traffic to move both ways. The sort of road where you really need to be mindful. We didn't make a hell of a lot of difference. I was scrunched up to the left and Phil was around 50-100m ahead of me (...ok, I have no idea. He was a wee way up though). A white car was coming down the road, and I could hear a truck rumbling away behind me. The road was straight at this point. All of a sudden, I heard a whooosh, and a crash of brakes, and my heart leapt right out of my chest. I felt the truck stop behind me, and I accelerated like a mad thing, my heart pounding and my eyes prickling. The white car went by, then the truck eased past me.* He went carefully and slowly past Phil, and he was gone. I was still shaking when I got to Phil- shaking, crying, and pissed.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realise that when you're driving on country roads, you need to look ahead. If you can't see ahead, you need to slow down. This isn't about cyclist protection, or the great cyclist/motorist "debate" the media insists on stirring up every time a person on a bike DIES. It's simple road safety. It's COMMON SENSE. I could have been or a horse, or a pedestrian, or some cows, or a tractor, or just a car driving at a sensible speed around the corner.
*Rant over*
But despite the anger, sadness and fear, the overwhelming feeling ending today's ride is gratitude. I always try to make sure I'm courteous to other road users. If someone passes me respectfully, I give them a wave. If someone is held up momentarily as a I ride past an intersection, I say "cheers." But today I aimed extra hard for a 100% courtesy rating- I was waving and thumbs-upping my little hands off (...and yes, keeping well and truly to the left while doing so...) And of the two hundred odd motorists I met today, a good 180 were great. Another 15 or so were super awesome, and only about 5 were cocks. We felt we were given more respect and more room than usual by a number of motorists, and we are VERY grateful for the respect and concern they showed us. We showed our respect, and I hope they could see how much we appreciated it.
(...then we rode another 50ks or so until we got home. The End.)
*No doubt the story will be re-told on yourviews one day. In that version, Phil and I will be riding two abreast, probably taking up the whole road. The truck will give me a polite toot and ask to go past, and I'll turn around, wiggle my bum in the air and shout "f**k YOU!!!!!!" (I'm good at multitasking while I climb, you see). Then instead of bursting into tears, I'll stop, throw a leppin gel and "roundly abuse" the poor guy. I won't be wearing any hi-vis gear, and it will be a busy high-speed road, instead of a virtually deserted country road.
** I am not a member of the Morrinsville Wheelers, and I did not know Mark Ferguson, Kaye Wolfe or Willie Muller. I am beyond thankful that I have not been involved in a cycle, car, or anything else crash. My thoughts and best wishes and prayers are with their friends and families.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Recovery
The sunburn's fading, the blisters are clearing up, and I'm feeling pretty good. I was pretty sore and pretty tired on Saturday, but slept well, and was awake and alert by 7 on Sunday morning.
On Sunday, I was sore but full of beans. Phil and I needed to spring clean our house, but before we got stuck into the chores we took advantage of the day off and met Phil's Mum and some of her friends for brunch in Cambridge. Both of our appetites were a bit screwy- I ordered fruit toast (...I'd had first breakfast earlier...) but it wasn't enough, whereas Phil ordered a big breakfast and left a lot of it. We wandered around the Cambridge trash and treasure market, enjoying the busy streets and the variety of stalls.
We had vaguely contemplated a spa but, given our sunburns, the thought wasn't particularly attractive. When Phil suggested a quiet swim in the Cambridge pool, I was in like Finn. However, there was cleaning to do first. The housework took us a good few hours. Mopping and scrubbing and organising and listening to music was a great way to use some of my excess jumpy energy- I even did some weeding, though I can't say I enjoyed it much. Too much bending, too much sneezy grass, too many bugs, and too much sun on my back (even through my t-shirt).
I hit a bit of a wall at about 4, and had afternoon tea/ lunch before we headed off to our swim. The water felt fantastic- as always happens when there's no pressure/no time, I didn't want to stop! I cruised through a km (almost entirely avec pull buoy), then we headed to the supermarket.
Today I'm still sore in my quads and walking gingerly, but otherwise feeling good. Tonight's swim was lovely, and I'm no longer stuck to the pull buoy. I was actually craving a run on the way to work this morning, and the thought of getting back on the bike on Wednesday is exciting!
Knowing we have the toughest event of our season out of the way is pretty cool. Lake Okareka Loop? Pah!
On Sunday, I was sore but full of beans. Phil and I needed to spring clean our house, but before we got stuck into the chores we took advantage of the day off and met Phil's Mum and some of her friends for brunch in Cambridge. Both of our appetites were a bit screwy- I ordered fruit toast (...I'd had first breakfast earlier...) but it wasn't enough, whereas Phil ordered a big breakfast and left a lot of it. We wandered around the Cambridge trash and treasure market, enjoying the busy streets and the variety of stalls.
We had vaguely contemplated a spa but, given our sunburns, the thought wasn't particularly attractive. When Phil suggested a quiet swim in the Cambridge pool, I was in like Finn. However, there was cleaning to do first. The housework took us a good few hours. Mopping and scrubbing and organising and listening to music was a great way to use some of my excess jumpy energy- I even did some weeding, though I can't say I enjoyed it much. Too much bending, too much sneezy grass, too many bugs, and too much sun on my back (even through my t-shirt).
I hit a bit of a wall at about 4, and had afternoon tea/ lunch before we headed off to our swim. The water felt fantastic- as always happens when there's no pressure/no time, I didn't want to stop! I cruised through a km (almost entirely avec pull buoy), then we headed to the supermarket.
Today I'm still sore in my quads and walking gingerly, but otherwise feeling good. Tonight's swim was lovely, and I'm no longer stuck to the pull buoy. I was actually craving a run on the way to work this morning, and the thought of getting back on the bike on Wednesday is exciting!
Knowing we have the toughest event of our season out of the way is pretty cool. Lake Okareka Loop? Pah!
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