Happy Ironman week!

Now that race week is upon us and Ironman is starting to occupy my every thought, I have dusted off the words of Hurricane Bob to share with you all and hopefully inspire and bring a smile to all the stressed out Ironmen out there.

So strap on your goggles, clip into those pedal and stride it out - here is Bob's 140.6 reasons to do an Ironman.

»001. Makes everything else seem so SHORT.
»002. The 3 week taper before the race.
»003. The 4 week recovery after the race.
»004. I've done one, so now I have to do it faster the next time.
»005. As much Pizza as you can eat.
»006. So that when the car runs out of gas, I can still get away from the Police under my own power.
»007. Beats watching the new Survivor, Big Brother, or anything else on TV.
»008. For all the times you heard someone say "I'd do one of those ... I just can't swim."
»009. The Finishing Oval at Lake Placid
»010. Steve King's accent at Ironman Canada
»011. Mike Reilly's hoarse voice still bringing people home at 11:30pm
»012. The Massage Tent - anywhere.
»013. St. Lynda is waiting for me at the finish.
»014. So is my mom...
»015. ...and so are Lynda's parents.
»016. Chalk on the road.
»017. Easy rides and runs the week before.
»018. Finishing your last workout and smiling because you know "I'm SO ready."
»019. For everyone who as ever asked you "Why?"
»020. For the teachers in school who told you you'd amount to nothing.
»021. To silence the one voice inside your head that still believes that bunk.
»022. You want to test the endurance limits of the music collection in your head.
»023. The "Bier Mile" at IM-Europe
»024. Spectators looking up your name and cheering as you plod past at sunset.
»025. Where else can someone ripping off your clothes in public be considered a benefit of a big race? (Wetsuit Strip)
»026. Miles in the Run
»027. Want to see the world and eat the food in each country, guilt free.
»028. So you can answer "One." When people ask "How many days does that take?"
»029. To wave at the scuba divers.
»030. To backstroke at the TV helicopter.
»031. Cards in your special needs bags.
»032. Cards in your T1 and T2 bags.
»033. CHICKEN SOUP!
»034. CHICKEN SOUP AGAIN! (Yes - it's worth 2 by itself)
»035. The Adirondacks of Lake Placid.
»036. The view from Richter Pass.
»037. Alii' Drive
»038. Main Street Penticton.
»039. Driving the bike course in a caravan of friends.
»040. Valet Parking and Catering ... all day long.
»041. You might get on TV
»042. I want to laugh at the former cool (now fat) kids at my 20th High School Reunion.
»043. The Marines at the race formerly known as Ironman California
»044. Takes as long as having a baby, nearly as satisfying, only without the morning sickness and the 21 years of bills that follow.
»045. Flying with a bike case makes business trips seem EASY.
»046. Sharing a smile with people wearing the finishers T-shirt the next day.
»047. Knowing that as you step in the water on race day - YOU MADE IT THIS FAR! Now just get home.
»048. How many people can say they did anything for 12,13, 14, 15, 16...hours?
»049. The "Hot Corner" at IM-USA
»050. The wristband that somehow becomes your favorite fashion accessory.
»051. So that when you tell your grandchildren stories about what you did when you were young...yours will be true.
»052. Main Street Lake Placid
»053. High fives from people you don't know.
»054. The Sponge as a fashion statement
»055. Coke and Chicken soup - the ultimate power cocktail
»056. Knowing that after the gun goes off, you don't have to worry anymore.
»057. First Place and Last Place get the same amount of cheers.
»058. Walking to the start with Heather, Lothar, Thomas, Jurgen...
»059. Getting lapped by Heather, Lothar, Thomas, Jurgen...
»060. Getting lapped again on the run by Heather, Lothar, Thomas, Jurgen...
»061. Making the turn for home.
»062. Because MolybdenumMan doesn't trip off the tongue in quite the same way
»063. If Judy Molnar can, dammit, so can you.
»064. You might get to run with Alexandra Paul!
»065. High fiving Daryl Haley, and going backwards 5 feet.
»066. Sunset over Skaha Lake on the run.
»067. If Randy Caddell can do it with just his arms, you can certainly do it with your legs.
»068. Easier than Eco-Challenge.
»069. Got rejected from the astronaut corps.
»070. Got rejected by the Marines.
»071. Crashed out of the Blue Angels.
»072. Makes US Navy SEAL training seem like a good idea.
»073. You enjoy the smell of chlorine in the morning.
»074. You've had enough with your current social life.
»075. For the love of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream!
»076. Your friends are watching on the web.
»077. You need to prove to your mom that even if you get on the bike right after you swim...you won't catch a cold.
»078. Helicopters over Kailua Bay.
»079. Roadies think you're nuts.
»080. Masters swimmers think you're nuts.
»081. Your running club KNOWS you're nuts.
»082. So that you can master the left-handed bottle grab (IMAus, IM-NZ).
»083. Morning swims
»084. 3 hour breakfasts after the morning swims
»085. The Underpants Run
»086. Laughing at people in the Underpants Run.
»087. The Hog's Breath Cafe Breakfast Special at IMC
»088. Glowsticks
»089. Cowman A-Moo-HA!
»090. Because Winston Churchill said I can't ever give up.
»091. The 12-step program to make me stop hasn't been invented yet.
»092. Any National Anthem, before the start, anywhere.
»093. Knowing that when you wake up at 4:00am, the next time you go to bed you will be VERY different person.
»094. 6 miles, 10 minutes - straight down to Keene.
»095. Yellow Lake done - 12 miles downhill to go.
»096. Because you've always wanted to see how many CD's and towels it would take to ride the whole IMC course on the CompuTrainer
»097. Makes your next marathon just a nice morning run.
»098. To make your Boss jealous because YOU have a life that doesn't involve the office.
»099. Because the longer you're out there, the less per hour it really costs!
»100. Being there is way better than watching on Pay-Per-View
»101. Finding yourself in the middle of your doubts ... finding a new meaning of being scared.
»102. Finding out that you're far stronger than those doubts a few miles later.
»103. Falling in step on the run and making a friend to the end, without having to say a word.
»104. A fried breakfast the day after.
»105. Watching people headed home while you're headed out, thinking "I'll be there soon ..." and they cheer for you.
»106. Understanding why that is as your cheering for people headed out when you're finally headed home.
»107. That feeling of ice cubes in your hat on a hot run never getting too cold.
»108. Telling folks with flat tires "It's a long day - hang in there!" and seeing them breathe and smile for a moment.
»109. Hearing people cheer you up while your changing a damn flat tire.
»110. Rolling into T2 knowing that no matter what - you can't have a flat sneaker from here on in.
»111. Having someone catch you, and hold you up when you can't do it anymore.
»112. Miles in the Bike.
»113. The IV's feel SO good the next day.
»114. To see if it really feels as good to do as it does to dream.
»115. To see if it really feels as good the second time.
»116. And a third...
»117. And a fourth...
»118. To try and finish in daylight.
»119. To try and finish before midnight.
»120. To try and NOT get stung by that (#*@! bee this time.
»121. Your kids already think you're a hero - prove them right.
»122. Your wife doesn't...but you might prove it to her, too.
»123. An M-Dot Tattoo would look swanky on your ankle.
»124. 5000 Volunteers - all for you.
»125. Hearing them say "You're almost there!" all day long.
»126. Being nearly almost there - for real.
»127. CHICKEN SOUP! (It's been awhile)
»128. Quiet hugs before the start.
»129. Kissing her goodbye, and promising "I'll be back later..."
»130. The first time you think "Holy crap - I'm doing an Ironman!"
»131. Beating back the voices that say "Holy crap - you can't do an Ironman!"
»132. Mile 26.
»133. That moment when you KNOW you're going to make it for the first time all day.
»134. Entering the oval.
»135. Running down Lakeshore Drive.
»136. Running down Alli Drive.
»137. The Finish Line
»138. The first step after you cross the line and think "Oh, My....God....!"
»139. The Medal
»139.6 Because they said I can't
»140.6 Because I say I can.

10 days until IMNZ...

SWIMMING

I have diligently been working on my new way of swimming starting with my kick and head/breathing position.  Hopefully I no longer look like a tadpole searching for food on the top of the water followed by a duck looking for food underneath me.
Can't say I have noticed that I am swimming faster but hopefully I am swimming better which will mean faster over a long period.  I did the Kohi swim last week and while my times there are usually slow I was maybe a bit faster compared with the people I usually exit the water with.

Nothing to do with swimming but a photo of a happy doggy.  She did run laps around the pool while I was swimming so maybe that's why she needed a nap

BIKING

Last week was a huge week on the bike of 15 hours BOOM! This was due to a little trip down to Taupo to ride what was supposed to be the full bike course.  I started out with gay abandon (as I do) but quickly felt that the leggies did not feel so good.  I pressed on hoping they would feel ok and while my power was ok I just felt really wasted and after about an hour my back started to hurt from being on my bike which never really happens.  I got to the end of the first lap 14 minutes slower than in our Pain and Suffering Camp the week before and feeling exhausted and dejected.  Sadly Davo had already been and gone so I swapped my bottles and headed out again.  After about 10 minutes I came to the realization that I just couldn't do it anymore, all I wanted to do was lie down on the side of the road preferably in the fetal position.  I think I was having a physical and mental meltdown.
I made it up to the racecourse where I knew there were some nice grassy bits to lie on and saw Davo circling around the intersection.  Turns out he wasn't having the funnest time either so after a brief discussion we decided that one lap was enough.
Weak.
Pretty disappointed in myself for giving in to my mental demons, yes I was feeling like crap but once the little voice said "it's ok, stop and have a lie down"  then I was gone mentally.  I know that physically I could have done the second lap but it would have taken a long time and I would have hated it and being so close to Ironman I don't want to thrash myself when I am not feeling good BUT I shouldn't be so weak in the head.
Time to revisit "The Triathlete's Guide to Mental Training" before next weekend I think.
I am not so concerned that I felt so bad riding - it was a bit close to the long ride from the previous weekend and on the recovery day in between was a not so recovery-ish ride trailing behind a former world record holder/Olympic champion who didn't stop talking and hopefully couldn't hear me puffing.
We did a 6 hour ride the weekend just been and I felt much better despite sitting on my bike for 6 hours which I hopefully won't be doing next weekend.

Taddy meeting it's identical twin

We had a nasty accident on our group ride on Saturday where there was a bit of confusion about going or stopping for an orange light resulting in Darreene stopping and Adrian smashing into the back of him at about 40km/hr.  There was a lot of blood and a front tooth in the middle of the road which I dutifully picked up and washed off and Dildo the dentist shoved it back in.  I feel so much closer to Darreene now knowing that I have handled his tooth.

The fallen Ninja.  I then got accusing of snapping photos like an Asian tourist

Two weeks before Ironman seems to be a bit of a witching hour for triathletes so it was a lucky escape for Jared and I and we will not be riding with the group this weekend.

Powered by Marmite sammies

RUNNING

Running is going well yay!! My little groin issue seems to have gone and I have managed to progress my long runs nicely.  I was very resourceful during last week's long run when I started to develop a blister on the side of my heel.  I had just had a Gu so I tried to put the empty Gu packet down the side of my shoe which worked for about a minute and had then moved down into the shoe leaving a sticky trail of choc-mint goodness as it went.  I was just coming up to the Kohi yacht club so thought I would see if there was a first aid kit where I could grab a couple of bandaids.  There was some housewifey exercise class going on upstairs so I let myself in and had a look though the kitchen to see what I could find.  Not sure that I was supposed to be in there but runners in general are pretty harmless (just a bit weird) so thought I would get away with it.  Couldn't find any bandaids but did manage to find a latex glove which I anchored under my orthotic and then pulled up to stop the rubbing on the side of the shoe.
Look out MacGyver.
Ran the remaining 14km with minimal issues apart from looking like I had some condoms stashed in my shoe.  But I was running so fast no-one would have seen anyway ;)

You never know when you might need a condom. so I keep them in my shoe

Looks a bit bleak but was actaully a nice run along the Waikato River trail

How's that weather looking Taupo

3 Weeks til IMNZ!!

So I managed to pull myself out of my post 70.3 depression and get on with life and with Ironman NZ training.
After my horrific swim I decided to seek a new opinion on my swimming so contacted Andy Mackay from Boost Coaching to see if he could help me.  It actually took him about 7 months to contact me as I originally asked for his help in May but used his junk email address and he didn't discover my email until the beginning of the year - I had just assumed that he thought I was a lost cause and couldn't help me.
So he watched me swimming from all angles and we identified some problems - some I knew were there and didn't know how to fix and some which I didn't know about.
So I now have a few things to work on and my little brain gets a bit overworked as I swimming along trying to think about my head position, my kick, where my hand is leaving the water, where my hand is entering the water and how far have I swum.
Brain overload.
But hopefully something will work in the next few weeks and I can pull out a semi-decent swim in Taupo.

We went down to Taupo to train on the course last weekend and to get a preview of the pain and suffering we are going to experience in a couple of weeks.  In the previous years we have had a three day training weekend to spread out the pain and suffering but this time we decided to do it all on the same day.  Fun.
The swim was nice, the lake was calm and not too cold.  Hopefully the same conditions on race day.
The bike was a 120km solo effort where I spread myself all over the course loosing a bottle, the lid off my tubes and tools bottle and then subsequently my tyre levers.  Take home message = tie everything down.
The run was supposed to be 24km but was shortened to 21km due to not having any aid stations or support and not wanting to die of dehydration and/or heat exhaustion.
When then popped over to Kinloch to watch the Elites race in the Oceania Cup.  Just watching them made my legs even more sore.
Overall the day went pretty well and was a good rehabilitation for my confidence muscle which was quite badly injured at the 70.3.

Now just need to get a couple more long bikes and long runs in and hopefully I shall be ready to roll on March the 2nd.

The job situation is quite grim at the moment (anyone out there want to give me a job? I think I would make a great PA...) so I am taking a few days down in Cambridge with Coach Poo to get in some decent training and hopefully get the chance to ride the IMNZ course again (because it is so fun).

Adios!

Auckland to Coromandel bike ride and Auckland 70.3

I had planned to keep up to date and do a little blog about our super fun bike trip from Auckland to Coromandel but time got away on me like it does.

So the week before the Auckland 70.3 was pretty normal in terms of training from Monday to Saturday and then we had a monster ride planned for Sunday.  It seems to be all the rage to cycle from Auckland to Coromandel and then catch the ferry back, so like little lemmings we too had to do it.
It was actually instigated by the Lawson's who then piked on us a week before having been away for the last few weeks away from their road/TT bikes.
So the 3 Amigos plus one headed off with gay abandon on Sunday morning.  There is not much to report on really, it was about 180km and 6 hours to get to Coromandel town where we gorged ourselves on pizza, garlic bread and chips before creeping back to the ferry which was full of like minded tri-geeks.
My phone ran out of battery so no fun photos I'm afraid.
The ride itself isn't too hard just a bit unfortunate that we were faced with a headwind from the 120km mark onwards, having a tailwind along this section would really have made such a difference.  There are pretty gnarly hills in the last 25km or so and the oppressive heat (my Garmin got up to 35 degrees - HOT!) didn't help us to feel so fresh.  Lucky I had Jared and Kezzle to hide behind into the wind (our plus one was last seen at this stage when we left Thames but he made it in the end) otherwise it would have been a pretty slow slog.

The leggies were a little bit wasted heading into race week so I just did a couple of easy pootles on the bike and running.  I had run the viaduct section of the course and along Tamaki Drive the week before for a total of 14km which is the longest I had done since Taupo Half and I wasn't quite 100% but figured if I kept it pretty easy in the weekend then I should be ok.  The last thing I wanted to do was stir up my little hip/groin issue and disrupt my IMNZ plans.

AUCKLAND 70.3 RACE REPORT

This was a pretty exciting race for us Aucklander's being in our hometown and as it was the Asia-Pacific Champs people were making a big deal out of it.  It was also exciting because we got to bike over the Harbour Bridge and swim in the Viaduct which are things that we are not normally allowed to do.  And it was even more exciting because I would finally get to see how fast Taddy really was.  I felt I was pretty prepared for this race (maybe a bit lacking in the running department) and thought that maybe a Kona spot could be within my grasp.
How disillusioned was I.

The swim was wave starts which I am not a fan of, so the 18-34's started 25 minutes after the Elite men who went first.
I honestly thought I swam well.  I had feet to swim on most of the time and I seemed to go straight.  There was a bit of chop in one section but conditions on the whole were good.
I wasn't timing it but had my sexy green Garmin on, I checked the time as I got out and assuming we started on time I figured I had swum about 32 minutes.  Yeah, I rock.  I was a bit alarmed by one of my friends who came out of the water just behind me and she usually swims quite a bit slower but thought maybe she'd had a good swim.
Turns out I swam a sloth-like 36 minutes.  For 1.9km. Holy crap.  I think there was some tidal activity which affected the weaker swimmers like me but I was still beaten out by people who have never beaten me out so tide or no tide - I sucked.

Oblivious to my sloth-like swim

The bike didn't get off to a good start with my Em's Bar (my main source of nutrition) dropping out of my pocket and me having to turn around to get it and then losing my second bottle about 30 seconds later, which I picked up on the way back when I saw it on the side of the road only to lose it again about 10 minutes later.

Taddy in action

Once I got into it all was good, I was passing a lot of F35+ people but no F30's.  The Harbour Bridge was fun, the weather turned a bit icky which made the tight corners coming back through the viaduct very scary and I think I lost quite a bit of time here especially since we had to do it three times.
There was quite a headwind coming back along Tamaki Drive and I had no-one to hide behind so just grinded away and stuck to my power.  Everyone was complaining about the huge bunches - they should have ridden with me, there were no bunches where I was which was a bit of a relief since I was worried that if I got another drafting penalty I may disowned the triathlon community.  A three strikes and your out type of scenario.

I had hoped to ride about 2.35 but came in to T2 with a bit over 2.43, hmmmm.

Off for a trot

Since I was so far down and there was no way I would even be close to a Kona spot I was happy just to chug away at an easyish pace.  After the run the week before I figured if I could hold 4.45 per km then I shouldn't put any undue stress onto my leg.  The first couple of km's were a bit quicker but once I settled into my 4.40-4.45 pace I was all good.

Remembering to smile to produce positive feelings are per "The Triathlete's Guides to Mental Training"

I had a couple of leisurely toilet stops and stopped twice to attend to an ouchie on my foot and then rest of the time pootled along smiling at people who cheered for me and giving people high 5's.  At the end of the 22.4km run  I had averaged 4.45 and the groin didn't seem any worse off.  For a flat run course it wasn't particularly easy with lots of twists and turns in the first 4km which we did another 3 times for the two lap course.  And the bricks in the viaducts were pretty slippery in the wet so I ran very easy around the corners.

Davo where is my vasoline?! And who is this creepy man stalking me from behind?

It seems that Coach Poo has disowned me so I am still unsure if I paced myself badly in the bike or if I did what I was supposed to, or has everyone else gotten faster - not so likely.  But I feel that this was a major let down for me especially since I really thought I would bike well.  The swim is always pretty hit and miss with me but I am taking some extra steps before IMNZ to try and figure out if there is anyway I can go faster.

It was a pretty disappointing performance in general, not because of the Kona spot but more because I felt like I let myself down and my little team who supports me, and now I have no confidence coming into Ironman New Zealand.  I pride myself on being a bit of a hardarse and trying not to take too much to heart but I will admit that a few tears were shed on Sunday afternoon.  Nothing like the feeling of being a washed up has-been (or never was) to get you down.

So now that the sore legs have healed and the dust is starting to settle again on my aero helmet I am trying to forget about it and focus on what is coming up.  Ironman New Zealand is what matters now, and not for a Kona spot but to prove to myself that I can put it all together.
The groin issue has flared up slightly since the weekend but I can still run so now need to keep it under control and get used to some long runs.
And I need to learn how to swim.

Big Jo Training Dec 31 - Jan 6

SWIM

A bit of a mixture of pool swimming and sea swimming this week while squad is on a break for the holidays. I was reminded how good it is to turn up to squad and just be told what to do - no negotiating or arguing about what to do (usually), 3km of fluffing around feels like an eternity.

BIKE

I was quite surprised when Training Peaks added up my hours of biking for the week to be over 13 hours!! Although I followed my normal program which usually gives me around 11 hours since I wasn't working some of the rides were a bit longer and the Sunday ride has started to ramp up a bit as well.
I have noticed a bit of a difference riding Taddy compared with RooRoo, it does seem to be faster and I am able to hang in a bit easier where I would usually struggle.  I think my power has gone up a bit as well which could account for it feeling a bit easier too.

Taddy was too fast for these boys up the Waitaks in the poo weather the week before

The weather has been pretty fab for riding bar one day last week when I learnt that doing standing sprint starts in the rain are not much fun and my power was probably lower than when I take off at the traffic lights.
I have gotten a bit technical and signed up for Strava, not that I really know what I'm doing with it.  I originally signed up just so I could see what it was all about and then saw some people that I know on it and since I love stalking so much I realized that it was right up my alley.  I would hate to give away all my training secrets so am not uploading all of my rides but do enjoy spying on other people.  I put my Sunday ride on there and basically became the Queen of the whole Waitaks - of course it helps when there are only about 10 girls using it as well...

RUNNIES

My running legs are coming back to me slowly, I got up to 8km as my longest run for the week and a couple of shorter ones plus a couple of pool runs.  Hopefully I can get up to an hour next week which will give me a bit more confidence leading into the 70.3.
It is a bit of a dilemma next weekend because there are 30 Kona spots on offer plus the 40 spots at IMNZ.  I know a lot of people think it is silly to be fixated on Kona but it get within 10km of the finish and have to pull out is rather heartbreaking so I really want to go back and finish.  I assume there will only be one spot for my AG in Auckland and I should be near the top of the AG and I know for a fact at least 2 people who are likely to beat me wouldn't take a Kona spot.
So, do I give at my all and hopefully get a spot so I can relax at IMNZ but also potentially set myself back in the hip/groin department? Then if I don't qualify but I have gone too hard and can't run for another 3 weeks I am screwed for IMNZ where there are 2 Kona spots.  Or do I stay comfortable at the 70.3 and not worry about my competition and try and get a spot at IMNZ? But that means a lot of pressure at IMNZ and I will be gutted if I miss out on both.
There is a chance that the person who takes the spot at the 70.3 is also doing IMNZ which would mean a roll down anyway.  There will also be a few Aussies coming for the 70.3 who are not on my radar and could be speed machines as well.
Decisions, decisions...

Exciting news of the week is the J-Rad has committed to IMNZ despite his broken-ness so we will have lots of fun and not so fun training hours ahead of us with Kezzle-Anne - AKA The Three Amigos - hola!

And more VERY exciting news is the arrival of my new Oakley Enduring sunnies which have been made extinct but I managed to find a pair on eBay.  I had got some Half Jackets to replace my ones which where thieved from my car but we never really bonded and in a moment of weakness I splashed out and got these. Now I feel like I am home again.

White Oakleys have magical powers despite what the Lawsons say.  And check out my sexy new Garmin FR10 in the reflection, it is green like a frog, or a cucumber.

Enjoying a civilized dinner outside at our new table with our chairs and BBQ  which were all free - yeah!!

Rotorua Half, Tadpolemonator and yuck Christmas weather

So the aftermath of Taupo Half was not so great with a my little groin issue hanging around and preventing me from running plus a very nasty ouchie on the front of my ankle from me being a muppet and not doing my shoe up properly.

Ouchies

 I was down to do the bike section for the Rotorua Half with my friend Megan from swimming which was quite exciting as I have never been a team biker before and got to wear my skinsuit which I had never had an occasion to wear.  I had a good ride despite my new Garmin 500 (on it's first outing) being on autolap and taking a lap every 8.05km (5 miles) and annoying the hell out of me.  It was fun riding with gay abandon and not having to worry about running.

Looking a bit ghost like but aero at the same time

Rotorua turned out a great day and the Lawson's backed up their 3rd race in 3 weeks with the Hammer coming 3rd and the Poodle taking a more relaxed approach and taking the dog for a run for the last part.

Who's this clown running his dog on the course?! Oh wait that's Nick

A very exciting thing happened the week after Rotorua - my new bike parts arrived!! Woo hoo!! I had to reorder from somewhere else because the original order went missing in the post which is why it took so long.  It then took a couple of nights (and lots of grumbling) to build.

Genius at work...

But then I got to use it for my Saturday ride - weeeeee!  It feels pretty good and seems to be better at cornering and 180 degree turns which is an area of mine which certainly needs some help.  It came with a pair of Zipp 404's but the whole TapTap issue means that if I use the rear 404 (once I get a Campag freehub body for it) I won't have power, BUT I will be able to use my rear wheel cover which I couldn't use with RooRoo so will be able to have a 404 front and disc on the back.  Finally I have a grown up bike and grown up wheels!! I know it is by no means the latest and greatest but don't think there is much difference between a 2009/2010 P3C to a 2012 P3C, and there is no way in hell I can afford a 2012 P3C.  It is hard for someone of my size to get a decent bike which actually fits properly and this bike should be faster than RooRoo.

ello Taddy

I have named it the Tadpolemonator - Taddy for short.  Tadpole for my new name courtesy of Nick the Poodle, and Lemonator out of respect to it's previous owner Tracy Lemon.
Let's see if Taddy can now get us to Kona....

The weather around NZ over Christmas has been pretty schizer but I have managed a bit of riding and sea swims.  Running is starting again slowly but am looking to supplement it with pool running (boooooo) so I don't lose too much fitness.

Nice summer weather in Coromandel...

Devonport to Takapuna swim crew and their kayaker.  The seemingly calm conditions lulling them into a false sense of security...

Made it! Not so calm now

Taupo Half Ironman Race Report

I had a rather cavalier attitude coming into this race this year, I hadn't pulled up so well after Tinman with my annoying pre-Germany groin problem appearing on the opposite side.  It started to get sore a couple of hours after Tinman and hadn't really settled so I hadn't run all week since it was sore just walking around.  So I didn't really expect to be running.
Plus my super speedy new bike was STILL waiting for parts and I was really quite over the disappointment of coming home everyday to no special delivery so I wasn't really enthused about riding RooRoo again when I should have been riding something faster.

Race morning was rather chilly with quite a chop on the lake but the forecast was pretty good for the rest of the day.
Last year I had a moment of brilliance in the swim and came out of the water in around about 31mins which is a phenomenal time for me.  Sadly I couldn't replicate it this year and came out in about 36 minutes... It was much worse conditions though and times across the board were slower than usual.  I was racing AG and came out of the water with one of the Elite girls and there were still 2 more behind me - why did that never happen when I was racing Elite?!!
I was so cold (the water was 14 degrees) that I ran like a snail up to T1 and struggled to get helmet on, things in pockets, etc and ended up not doing my shoes up so well causing the velcro to rub a big hole in front of my ankle - ouch.
It took quite a while to warm up but luckily there was no rain so after about 30km I was feeling a bit normal again.
The number of fast looking people passing me indicated that maybe everyone had struggled with the swim and maybe I had actually done ok.
I saw a sad sight at about the 10km mark - Jared Razzle pulling the pin on his race and rolling back in to town.  I knew it was on the cards with his multitude of niggly issues but was still sad to see him like that.

After about 25km I got mixed up in a pack which came past picking up every person in it's path, I did my best to keep my distance but had the old problem of opening up a gap and then someone else slotting in.  When I realized that the pack contained the 4th - 7th females (my competition) I decided I to had to stick with it if I was to compete with them.  The pack then got broken up a few times by the draft busters and me and one of the other girls had to spend some time in the naughty corner.  The draft marshall freely admitted that the girls are much easier to pick on because we stand out among all the men which is the hard part of being near the front of the girls race but not a good enough swimmer to get away from the large packs of men.
The last 20km was spent passing the people who had passed me while I was serving my time including a couple of girls who hadn't got busted.

Coming off the bike I wasn't really sure how the groin would be but thought I would give it a go and was prepared to stop if need be.
And it turned out to be ok! It was a little bit niggly but never got worse than a 2/10 so it was obviously pretty warmed up after 90kms on the bike.
I was pretty disappointed in my run time but have had a broken couple of weeks for running so I guess it was ok.  And I picked up a couple of places to put myself into 6th place which is always good.
I almost got run down in the finishing chute by Terenzo (he was doing it in a team) and his little group of fans who got to run the last 50m with him.  He had the decency to stay behind me coming across the finish line and I would expect nothing less from him, I was wondering what the commotion going on behind me was.

Anyhoo I fulfilled my goals of going sub 5 hours and coming in the top 10 so it was a successful trip.  The drafting penalty was a shameful moment for me but as Coach Poo said the top 3 girls at Kona this year all got penalties so I am in good company...

The groin is about where is was before the race so I don't feel like I have done any extra damage to it (am almost 100% certain it is my Pectineus muscle NOT a bone problem - whew) but will let it settle down before running again.

We had some fantastic hospitality from T the P and Netty at their lovely house in Kinloch and good company with the Poodle, the Hammer and the Seal.  The Hammer had a phenomenal race to come 3rd in the ladies and the Poodle had a solid race overall and moved pretty quick (much quicker than me!) for a big man on the run course.

This weekend I am doing the bike leg for Team Speedtheory Ladies at the Rotorua Half and will not be on my new bike so don't even ask.