Not the best day I’ve had.
The alarm went off at 3:30, got up and made my regular breakfast of porridge, fruit and a tin of ensure, which is around 1000 calories. With the transition bags handed in the day before there wasn’t much extra to do so I stretched for 10 minutes and watched the tv news and went through my race strategy in my head.
At 5am I decided there was nothing else to be gained from sitting and fretting so jumped in the car and drove down to the race start. Passing along shoreline drive, even in the dim light of pre-dawn I could see the breakers rolling onto the beach. The wind was howling, my guess was 30-35knts with a good 1m swell. This really didn’t look promising. I pulled in and watched for a few minutes and it was solid and continuous. I was pretty certain there would be no swim today.
At the race HQ we lined up to get bodymarked with our numbers and the talk through the tent was about the weather. No-one was expecting the swim to go ahead and the big question was whether they’d cancel the whole race. The main marquee we were in was blowing around badly with the supports being lifted off the ground in places. We all huddled in groups and talked about the possible options. Eventually the race director came up and announced that there would be no swim, and to wait around until they made a decision about the rest of the race.
We walked across into town and hundreds of athletes descended on the few open café’s which did a roaring trade. With 550 first time ironmen there were a lot of disappointed people, and mostly we were wondering if there was a way to postpone the race 24 hours. The forecast for the Sunday was much better and we all fervently hoped that we would be given that option.
At 8:15 we gathered back at the race site. We were asked to leave the main marquee for safety reasons and huddled in the cold winds outside listening to Mike Reilly cracking jokes but I think most people were pretty unhappy. I know I was just feeling sick at not even having the chance to find out whether I could go the distance.
Eventually the announcement was made that they couldn’t run the race on the Sunday as they couldn’t get the necessary medical crew in place. Now I know quite a few people were wondering what the army, who were providing a lot of that, were doing on the Sunday, given that NZ isn’t currently at war, but you have to abide by the race directors decision. I can’t imagine how difficult it is to put on an event of that size and organise the logistics in a workable fashion but we were all pretty gutted. The weather report was for the winds to strengthen and then die down in a couple of hours, so the start would be delayed and we would just do a single lap of the bike and the run course, meaning 90km of cycling and 21km of running.
Around me I could see several people already taking off their timing chips, but I knew I’d end up going out there. If nothing else it would give me a reconnaissance for another attempt in the future, but more because I couldn’t imagine coming all this way and then not going out with the others.
In transition as we sorted out our swim and bike gear there were people unracking bikes and leaving but I think at least 90% of the field went out in the end. The bikes were sent out in number order (which was assigned according to alphabetical surname) so I was right in the middle. This meant a good hour or more of waiting after the start before I left. It was cold, really cold, I had my race gear, armwarmers and a bike top on and sitting there waiting I was chilling down rapidly. It was also nearly 8 hours since breakfast with onlya can of ensure, a couple of bananas and some energy gels to keep me going. Eventually we were off and turning onto lakeshore drive for the first few km the wind just blew you sideways. Looking at the water I knew that the race director made the only sensible choice but I hoped these winds would die down.
There’s a fairly long grinding climb out of town for a few km followed by a gentle downhill for about 20km. The unfortunate thing about everyone going off in name order was that every fast cyclist with a surname from R-Z came flying past me over the next hour. It was utterly demoralising to get passed quite so much, there must have been at least 300 bikes went by. However, I’d decided to ride this as though it was the first leg of an ironman, to see how I felt at the end of the leg and to practice my nutrition. This was, after all now, just another training day.
The biggest mistake made in an ironman race is going too hard in the first 90km of the bike, so I took it easy. With a tailwind I was picking up some decent speed and moving along at a decent clip while keeping my heart rate down where I wanted it. The New Zealand roads are pretty rough, with a chip seal surface that is not very pleasant to ride on. I have to admit that my Titanflex is probably the perfect bike for this though, as the suspension takes that buzz out of the seat, although my hands were going numb occasionally. As I started seeing more people coming towards me who’d already been to the turnaround, their faces told the story of the wind they were heading into. Even coming side on, I was being blown around and I have to admit that despite it being a lovely course in beautiful surroundings, it was a tough ride out.
Then I hit the turnaround and instantly the speed dropped a good 10kmh. The headwind was really strong and I was down into my lowest gears. Remembering not to push too hard into it I let the speed drop and just kept my cadence up in the low 90’s, spinning away and hoping not to blow up before the end. I kept reminding myself that this was supposed to be just the first of two loops in a full ironman so I should take it easy and think of the long term plan. My back, which I hurt a couple of weeks ago came back to bug me on the return leg, which might have been due to the cold, but it was uncomfortable rather than simply painful.
My nutrition wasn’t going as well as I’d planned though. The cold was really seeping into me, and that causes you to need the toilet more often. I had to comfort stops on the return leg and wasn’t hydrating as much as I should because of that. I knew it at the time and thought it wouldn’t matter too much. I probably went through 2.5 litres of water over the 3 hours of riding, which isn’t as much as I would normally, particularly as I hadn’t been drinking that much in the hours leading up the race as we were all just sitting around. I’d been getting a shot of gel into me every 20-30 mins and was probably a bit over carbed by the end of it. I grabbed a couple of bananas and half a powerbar (ugh) to add some calories but will have to look hard at my nutrition in future. It didn’t help that my heart rate monitor (that I use as my nutrition timer) decided to play up right from the start. I could get the heart rate, but the timer aspect wasn’t working correctly, giving me various countdowns for some reason when it should just have counted up from the start. Must look into that for next time.
From km 60-80 it was one long uphill grind into what I estimate was a 30knt headwind. Probably the toughest riding I’ve ever done. I found that my gentle ride on the start of the course was paying off and I kept spinning in my lowest gear. It was strange to be passing people going uphill while doing just 13kmh. I can almost walk that fast. At km 80 you turn off for the drop into town which gave a bit of a respite from the long grind and through town to the transition.
My legs felt fairly good and I think I could have ridden the second loop ok, but what it would have left in my legs for the run I honestly don’t know. Coming across the timing mats a nice man took my bike from and another volunteer handed me my transition bag. Once inside I took a moment to find a chair, settle my head and go through the bag of stuff. I drank another can of ensure, put a flask of gel in my race top, took off the armwarmers and bike top, on with fresh socks, my running shoes and running hat, grabbed a quick squirt of sunscreen and was out on the run in 5 minutes. Not rushed, just moving steadily. I was pleased with that. However, the organisers would have done well to put more than 2 portaloos outside the transition as there was a queue. I decided to use one further down the course.
From T2 you run back along the lake front into town and round past the finish chute, then back along the lake and out to five mile bay. The first few km along the lake showed that the wind hadn’t abated at all, if anything it was even stronger. People were running at odd angles into the wind and being blown across the path. Once out of town you were running into a headwind which was hard work. I was pleased to note that my legs felt pretty good, suggesting my bike effort was on target and that the bike fits me well. I ran slowly but steadily, going through the aid stations with just a 10 second stop to drink water so that I didn’t pour most of it down me before shuffling off again into my run. I realised at this point that I was probably over carbed, as the gels weren’t going down well, and I had a bit of a cramp across my stomach, I switched to water only until the turnaround and then went to alternating flat coke and water which seemed to help.
My knees were sore by this time, which is unusual for me, I run 20km every other weekend and don’t get this trouble, so not sure what was causing that. My hamstrings were also starting to make themselves felt too. But, my pace was steady and I was starting to pass people which cheered me up. From the top of airport hill you can see the far end of the bay near the finish which gives you a mental lift for those last 6-7km which helps greatly. Once back down onto lakeshore drive though, the wind just hammers sideways into you. With 3km to go my knee gave out under me, I have no idea why but I’d been running at a 40 degree angle into the wind which might have caused it. It hurt like hell, and I walked for 30 seconds before deciding I was going to damn well run this in regardless. I dropped the pace and kept going, having something of a sense-of-humour failure with the wind at that point. Then you turn up into town and the long lines of people who call your name (your name’s on the race number) and encourage you along which puts a spring in your step. Around the top of town and into the long finishers chute where suddenly there’s a big gangtry with ‘Ironman’ on it and you can hear Mike Reilly. That was truly bittersweet, I’d worked so long and hard to see that sight and now it didn’t really mean anything to me. I heard Mike call my name over the line but there wasn’t the famous ‘you are an Ironman’ it was just the end of a run.
I had my timing tag taken off, a medal put round my neck, and a towel wrapped round me. I heard at least one person refuse their medal and I know exactly how they felt. I have mine and I will be getting ‘unfinished business’ engraved on it. It will live in a drawer as I can’t see me ever wanting to display it. I have a finishers T-shirt that I will only ever wear on the indoor trainer. I’ve been looking at all the ironman finishers gear that other athletes have been wearing around town this week and wanting so much to be able to do the same.
I found my bags and pulled on some warm clothes to take the chill off and chatted with some other athletes for a while. I would have got a massage but the wind blew the massage marquee over so they cancelled that unfortunately. Eventually though it was time to leave. I drove up to T2 and collected my bike and other bags and then wandered off to McDonalds for a fish fellet and some fries. Sitting there on my own, realising why I don’t go to McD’s, I felt very sad and lonely. This should have been a momentous day and turned into just a day of training. I honestly can’t feel that good about it, but I do know I’ll be back sometime, I will do this course, and I will be an Ironman eventually. During this week I’ve really come to admire and appreciate the range of people that make up the ironman family, it’s so different from all the other events I’ve been to, and really fires something within me. I think I’ve finally realised that triathlon is a sport I’m in love with, and ironman is the event that I will return to repeatedly over the years to come. I understand now.
I can’t imagine the logistics involved in running a race like this, but it does strike me as odd that there wasn’t an attempt during the week to come up with an option to run the race on the Sunday. We’ve all been watching the weather for a week, we’ve all known that this was a possibility so I wonder why it took until raceday morning to try to put something into action. I’m sure the volunteers would all have been out there, I’ve chatted to a few and to a man they’ve all said they’d have been there. Chatting to other athletes this morning, we’re all sad about this but then I’m not a race director, but I do hope for the future that they’d take an earlier view of possibilities such as bumpting the race for a day.
Sitting here this morning, tired, a bit sore and with my knee throbbing gently, I look out of the window at the lake and it’s a beautiful day, sunny, calm although cold. Would be a good day to do an Ironman. Still, I’ve learned from this race, it’s not all bad. I’ve learned that you should take a bigger range of clothes to deal with conditions you don’t think will occur, I need to work on my nutrition and I need to be fitter. My bike is great, it’s well setup although I think I want to try another saddle as I’m still getting some discomfort from that. I think I understand better now how Ironman is as much a mental game as a physical one, how you will push yourself further to reach that line, and I know better now what it’s like to compete on this course. I thought yesterday at the end of the run that I simply couldn’t have done another lap of that course, but I’m pretty sure on the day I would have found a way, even if it meant walking.
Oh yeah, I’ll be back.
The alarm went off at 3:30, got up and made my regular breakfast of porridge, fruit and a tin of ensure, which is around 1000 calories. With the transition bags handed in the day before there wasn’t much extra to do so I stretched for 10 minutes and watched the tv news and went through my race strategy in my head.
At 5am I decided there was nothing else to be gained from sitting and fretting so jumped in the car and drove down to the race start. Passing along shoreline drive, even in the dim light of pre-dawn I could see the breakers rolling onto the beach. The wind was howling, my guess was 30-35knts with a good 1m swell. This really didn’t look promising. I pulled in and watched for a few minutes and it was solid and continuous. I was pretty certain there would be no swim today.
At the race HQ we lined up to get bodymarked with our numbers and the talk through the tent was about the weather. No-one was expecting the swim to go ahead and the big question was whether they’d cancel the whole race. The main marquee we were in was blowing around badly with the supports being lifted off the ground in places. We all huddled in groups and talked about the possible options. Eventually the race director came up and announced that there would be no swim, and to wait around until they made a decision about the rest of the race.
We walked across into town and hundreds of athletes descended on the few open café’s which did a roaring trade. With 550 first time ironmen there were a lot of disappointed people, and mostly we were wondering if there was a way to postpone the race 24 hours. The forecast for the Sunday was much better and we all fervently hoped that we would be given that option.
At 8:15 we gathered back at the race site. We were asked to leave the main marquee for safety reasons and huddled in the cold winds outside listening to Mike Reilly cracking jokes but I think most people were pretty unhappy. I know I was just feeling sick at not even having the chance to find out whether I could go the distance.
Eventually the announcement was made that they couldn’t run the race on the Sunday as they couldn’t get the necessary medical crew in place. Now I know quite a few people were wondering what the army, who were providing a lot of that, were doing on the Sunday, given that NZ isn’t currently at war, but you have to abide by the race directors decision. I can’t imagine how difficult it is to put on an event of that size and organise the logistics in a workable fashion but we were all pretty gutted. The weather report was for the winds to strengthen and then die down in a couple of hours, so the start would be delayed and we would just do a single lap of the bike and the run course, meaning 90km of cycling and 21km of running.
Around me I could see several people already taking off their timing chips, but I knew I’d end up going out there. If nothing else it would give me a reconnaissance for another attempt in the future, but more because I couldn’t imagine coming all this way and then not going out with the others.
In transition as we sorted out our swim and bike gear there were people unracking bikes and leaving but I think at least 90% of the field went out in the end. The bikes were sent out in number order (which was assigned according to alphabetical surname) so I was right in the middle. This meant a good hour or more of waiting after the start before I left. It was cold, really cold, I had my race gear, armwarmers and a bike top on and sitting there waiting I was chilling down rapidly. It was also nearly 8 hours since breakfast with onlya can of ensure, a couple of bananas and some energy gels to keep me going. Eventually we were off and turning onto lakeshore drive for the first few km the wind just blew you sideways. Looking at the water I knew that the race director made the only sensible choice but I hoped these winds would die down.
There’s a fairly long grinding climb out of town for a few km followed by a gentle downhill for about 20km. The unfortunate thing about everyone going off in name order was that every fast cyclist with a surname from R-Z came flying past me over the next hour. It was utterly demoralising to get passed quite so much, there must have been at least 300 bikes went by. However, I’d decided to ride this as though it was the first leg of an ironman, to see how I felt at the end of the leg and to practice my nutrition. This was, after all now, just another training day.
The biggest mistake made in an ironman race is going too hard in the first 90km of the bike, so I took it easy. With a tailwind I was picking up some decent speed and moving along at a decent clip while keeping my heart rate down where I wanted it. The New Zealand roads are pretty rough, with a chip seal surface that is not very pleasant to ride on. I have to admit that my Titanflex is probably the perfect bike for this though, as the suspension takes that buzz out of the seat, although my hands were going numb occasionally. As I started seeing more people coming towards me who’d already been to the turnaround, their faces told the story of the wind they were heading into. Even coming side on, I was being blown around and I have to admit that despite it being a lovely course in beautiful surroundings, it was a tough ride out.
Then I hit the turnaround and instantly the speed dropped a good 10kmh. The headwind was really strong and I was down into my lowest gears. Remembering not to push too hard into it I let the speed drop and just kept my cadence up in the low 90’s, spinning away and hoping not to blow up before the end. I kept reminding myself that this was supposed to be just the first of two loops in a full ironman so I should take it easy and think of the long term plan. My back, which I hurt a couple of weeks ago came back to bug me on the return leg, which might have been due to the cold, but it was uncomfortable rather than simply painful.
My nutrition wasn’t going as well as I’d planned though. The cold was really seeping into me, and that causes you to need the toilet more often. I had to comfort stops on the return leg and wasn’t hydrating as much as I should because of that. I knew it at the time and thought it wouldn’t matter too much. I probably went through 2.5 litres of water over the 3 hours of riding, which isn’t as much as I would normally, particularly as I hadn’t been drinking that much in the hours leading up the race as we were all just sitting around. I’d been getting a shot of gel into me every 20-30 mins and was probably a bit over carbed by the end of it. I grabbed a couple of bananas and half a powerbar (ugh) to add some calories but will have to look hard at my nutrition in future. It didn’t help that my heart rate monitor (that I use as my nutrition timer) decided to play up right from the start. I could get the heart rate, but the timer aspect wasn’t working correctly, giving me various countdowns for some reason when it should just have counted up from the start. Must look into that for next time.
From km 60-80 it was one long uphill grind into what I estimate was a 30knt headwind. Probably the toughest riding I’ve ever done. I found that my gentle ride on the start of the course was paying off and I kept spinning in my lowest gear. It was strange to be passing people going uphill while doing just 13kmh. I can almost walk that fast. At km 80 you turn off for the drop into town which gave a bit of a respite from the long grind and through town to the transition.
My legs felt fairly good and I think I could have ridden the second loop ok, but what it would have left in my legs for the run I honestly don’t know. Coming across the timing mats a nice man took my bike from and another volunteer handed me my transition bag. Once inside I took a moment to find a chair, settle my head and go through the bag of stuff. I drank another can of ensure, put a flask of gel in my race top, took off the armwarmers and bike top, on with fresh socks, my running shoes and running hat, grabbed a quick squirt of sunscreen and was out on the run in 5 minutes. Not rushed, just moving steadily. I was pleased with that. However, the organisers would have done well to put more than 2 portaloos outside the transition as there was a queue. I decided to use one further down the course.
From T2 you run back along the lake front into town and round past the finish chute, then back along the lake and out to five mile bay. The first few km along the lake showed that the wind hadn’t abated at all, if anything it was even stronger. People were running at odd angles into the wind and being blown across the path. Once out of town you were running into a headwind which was hard work. I was pleased to note that my legs felt pretty good, suggesting my bike effort was on target and that the bike fits me well. I ran slowly but steadily, going through the aid stations with just a 10 second stop to drink water so that I didn’t pour most of it down me before shuffling off again into my run. I realised at this point that I was probably over carbed, as the gels weren’t going down well, and I had a bit of a cramp across my stomach, I switched to water only until the turnaround and then went to alternating flat coke and water which seemed to help.
My knees were sore by this time, which is unusual for me, I run 20km every other weekend and don’t get this trouble, so not sure what was causing that. My hamstrings were also starting to make themselves felt too. But, my pace was steady and I was starting to pass people which cheered me up. From the top of airport hill you can see the far end of the bay near the finish which gives you a mental lift for those last 6-7km which helps greatly. Once back down onto lakeshore drive though, the wind just hammers sideways into you. With 3km to go my knee gave out under me, I have no idea why but I’d been running at a 40 degree angle into the wind which might have caused it. It hurt like hell, and I walked for 30 seconds before deciding I was going to damn well run this in regardless. I dropped the pace and kept going, having something of a sense-of-humour failure with the wind at that point. Then you turn up into town and the long lines of people who call your name (your name’s on the race number) and encourage you along which puts a spring in your step. Around the top of town and into the long finishers chute where suddenly there’s a big gangtry with ‘Ironman’ on it and you can hear Mike Reilly. That was truly bittersweet, I’d worked so long and hard to see that sight and now it didn’t really mean anything to me. I heard Mike call my name over the line but there wasn’t the famous ‘you are an Ironman’ it was just the end of a run.
I had my timing tag taken off, a medal put round my neck, and a towel wrapped round me. I heard at least one person refuse their medal and I know exactly how they felt. I have mine and I will be getting ‘unfinished business’ engraved on it. It will live in a drawer as I can’t see me ever wanting to display it. I have a finishers T-shirt that I will only ever wear on the indoor trainer. I’ve been looking at all the ironman finishers gear that other athletes have been wearing around town this week and wanting so much to be able to do the same.
I found my bags and pulled on some warm clothes to take the chill off and chatted with some other athletes for a while. I would have got a massage but the wind blew the massage marquee over so they cancelled that unfortunately. Eventually though it was time to leave. I drove up to T2 and collected my bike and other bags and then wandered off to McDonalds for a fish fellet and some fries. Sitting there on my own, realising why I don’t go to McD’s, I felt very sad and lonely. This should have been a momentous day and turned into just a day of training. I honestly can’t feel that good about it, but I do know I’ll be back sometime, I will do this course, and I will be an Ironman eventually. During this week I’ve really come to admire and appreciate the range of people that make up the ironman family, it’s so different from all the other events I’ve been to, and really fires something within me. I think I’ve finally realised that triathlon is a sport I’m in love with, and ironman is the event that I will return to repeatedly over the years to come. I understand now.
I can’t imagine the logistics involved in running a race like this, but it does strike me as odd that there wasn’t an attempt during the week to come up with an option to run the race on the Sunday. We’ve all been watching the weather for a week, we’ve all known that this was a possibility so I wonder why it took until raceday morning to try to put something into action. I’m sure the volunteers would all have been out there, I’ve chatted to a few and to a man they’ve all said they’d have been there. Chatting to other athletes this morning, we’re all sad about this but then I’m not a race director, but I do hope for the future that they’d take an earlier view of possibilities such as bumpting the race for a day.
Sitting here this morning, tired, a bit sore and with my knee throbbing gently, I look out of the window at the lake and it’s a beautiful day, sunny, calm although cold. Would be a good day to do an Ironman. Still, I’ve learned from this race, it’s not all bad. I’ve learned that you should take a bigger range of clothes to deal with conditions you don’t think will occur, I need to work on my nutrition and I need to be fitter. My bike is great, it’s well setup although I think I want to try another saddle as I’m still getting some discomfort from that. I think I understand better now how Ironman is as much a mental game as a physical one, how you will push yourself further to reach that line, and I know better now what it’s like to compete on this course. I thought yesterday at the end of the run that I simply couldn’t have done another lap of that course, but I’m pretty sure on the day I would have found a way, even if it meant walking.
Oh yeah, I’ll be back.