As you guys already know from people like ironclm on this forum, Taupo, NZ Ironman was a great race.
Sounds like a cliche’, but it was really the people in NZ that made the race so great. What a crew! Awesome.
I think I proved my old addage: Ironman is NOT a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run: It IS a half marathon when you are completely destroyed. I lost 6 kilos in the race, 13.2 pounds.
One word: dehydration.
Tom,
Welcome back, things not the same with you on the other side of the world. Good job at IMNZ, great race…
Welcome Back-
Thanks guys. It’s good to be back.
People missed you in NZ Francois, you were the topic of discussion at breakfast and the airport on the way there. Do you know a girl named Hillary B? She mentioned she knew you…
Good news about Expedia. Missed having you there Francois. See you at the next one. Switzerland maybe?
Tom, great race! You have to be especially happy about the swim. What do you attribute your 1:10 to? Is that a swim pr?
And finally, how many days a week did you drag yourself to the pool?
I’m just curious because you made it sound like you hated swimming and didn’t do it much. i think 1:10 is very respectable. Good job.
TD,
Congrats on the race. Maybe you could have gone faster, but it was still a sweet time.
Hey Herschel34,
Well, the darn water was sooooooooo cold. It was a substantial bit colder than Alcatraz. Coldest I’ve ever been in except Antarctica.
I have been doing a lot of swimming, probably at least 4 days a week, but many times more and not uncommonly two swim workouts a day. I am back in the pool tomorrow. In Curacao I hit it really hard.
I thought I could go sub 1:05:00 in the water. I swam really easy though and just took my time. My PR for an IM swim is 1:04:00 something in Canada.
Do you know a girl named Hillary B? She mentioned she knew you… <<
Hilary Biscay? Blonde, fast in her 20s? If so, I know her. Any idea of what happened to her and ending up in medical?
Nice race and aren’t the people AMAZING?
clm
Congrats on a solid performance Tom. As a fellow resident of the northern climates, I marvel at how you could prepare for an IM (especially with the winter we’ve just had). My longest ever ride on the trainer is 3:45 and I did a lot of 6:00+ rides last year getting ready for IMFL so I know I would have to set different goals if I did a race in March.
Hi Ironclm,
Yeah, that’s her. Nice young lady, great athlete. Fun to spend time with her and her friends Dana and Steve. We shared quite a few meals in NZ. Great crowd.
Hillary was having a killer race- absolutely amazing. She looked great on the run. I saw her at least twice on the run course.
She wound up crawling 1.5 miles… Can you believe that? Amazing. This woman is incredible. Absolutely determined. Her hip/femur area had some terrible pain and she couldn;t run or walk anymore- so she crawled. Officials threatened several times to remove her from the race but she absolutely refused to quit.
Finally, they forced her to get into an ambulance. Basically, Hillary’s performance was incredible. Everybody at Ironman is an impressive character, but Hillary was a real stand-out there.
Hey LarryCalifornia,
Yes sir, I am doing a detailed feature on my nutrition plan for IMNZ on our website. In the mean time- see the seperate thread posted on this forum here in just a second regarding that information.
Tom:
I had the live feed of the finish line (the stationary cams they had there) on my computer while I was doing a few other things. I was not paying attention closely, nor was I watching for anyone in particular. I had no idea that you were doing IMNZ - I guess I missed that in here somehow. However, I did have the volume turned up, so I could hear the announcer. Anyway, as I’m sitting around, reading a book or something, I hear the announcer say something like “And now here comes Tom Demerly from the United States”. The name caught my attention for obvious reasons (seeing your name on here a bunch). I thought, “no way, this can’t be the same guy.” Then I thought, “how many Tom Demerlys could there be that do triathlons?” So I got up, rushed to my computer, and watched you cross the finish line. So, you had at least an audience of one via the internet as you finished.
I do want to say congrats on a killer race. That was a great time. I’d be lucky to do and IM that fast one day. Good job!
“I am not sure I know her…and I NEVER get drunk (despite being half french half aussie…proof that you CAN beat your genetics…hehehe) so I would remember :-)”
Maybe you were too drunk to remember being drunk? 
Congats, Tom! Way to hang in there. When I saw that 1st run split, I thought you might be in for a really long day, but you held it together. Nice job, man.
Wow, that is cool. I was pretty stoked to finish. I flashed seven fingers since this was the seventh continent I’ve raced on.
I wish I had seen it. I’m glad someone saw it! Thanks!
Beauty race, Tom. Great to see you’re back and healthy. Lookin’ forward to the full write-up @ Bikesport.
welcome back… jealous of your time in NZ as we suffered through more snow
It was good to be gone and thanks for the welcome back Taku. But, it is nice to be home. I played with my cats for 4 hours last night and did something I haven’t done in months- I sat down and watched a movie.
It has been good to travel so much over the past few months but it is good to be home.
Hi Tom, well done. Your “subject” summed up my race perfectly also! How was that head wind heading back into Taupo? I am sure that with your immaculate position on the bike you didn’t notice it as much as us “unfisted” athletes.
I am very pleased to hear that you enjoyed our race and our hospitality. I really hoped that I might get the chance to say hello to you at the race. Please “spread the news” about our wonderful country and race. I hope you will come back. Did you do your HALO jump? You would have had awesome weather on the Sunday.
Cheers, Scott Emmens
Tom,
Like Allan, I too am amazed you were able to train for an Ironman™ during a Michigan winter. How often and how long did you ride on the trainer? I imagine you haven’t ridden outdoors since Dec or Jan. Also, what role (if any) did PowerCranks play in your NZ build up?
Hey Scott,
Based on my results I passed 334 athletes on the bike, about 23% of the entire field. It was mostly on the way back into Taupo into the wind. My bike and my position worked absolutely without flaw. It was an enormous advantage. I pushed reasonably hard into the wind too, and just rode the tailwind out to the turnaround. It was awesome.
Jeez, what is up with that pavement though?
As for my jump on Sunday, after 1.5 hours in the medical tent on Saturday evening I felt like I had been hit by a car. So, I didn’t jump darn it. I’ll get back there though. You’re never too old to fall out of a perfectly good airplane.