Registration Day

Its been a good day, a sleep in until 7.30am, then up for a bike and run. Some relaxing then off to town for Registration .... then a swim in the lake and a BBQ with mates.  Hope we don't forget the race briefing later tonight.  Anyway a picture says a thousand words so enjoy .... 

Lining up for Registration

My Support Crew, from left Gusy, Liza and CM

Pre race weigh in, you also get weighed at the end of the race.

Race Finishing Shoot

Inside Registration Tent

Checking the timing chip

The Crew from left CM, Gusy, me and Liza

"I will not bonk!", should I buy the tshirt?

Official now I have my Athlete Band

Outside Sports Expo

Packing the Transition Bags

Touch down in Taupo

The plan was to leave Auckland just after 9am, and head south to Taupo, location of the NZ Ironman.  Approx 3.5hr drive.  I can't confirm I got everything but the car was full, we have a bike on the roof and the Nespresso safely stashed on the back seat :)

An eventful trip down, as Liza had to do a little work, however this was ok as she was informed they had won some business which they had been working on.  A great ups for her and team, I could see the world lift from her shoulders and a tremendous grin from ear to ear. Awesome work my love!, now lets hope I can round it out with a finish on Saturday.

Arrived in plenty of time to have a quick lunch then off to see Julie for a final massage. We wondered back to town for a spot of shopping (groceries only). We took the opportunity to visit the expo today as it will get busy tomorrow. Scored an awesome Ironman wheel bag which holds 2 wheels for a low $20. I know!!!! Liza scored herself a supporters hoody :)

The weather is great! And there is a heap of tanned fit looking people around town, lucky I have had an attitude change, otherwise one may begin to feel a little intimidated and out of their league. But not me :)

Carbo loading

For the last few months, since Xmas, I have either cut back or given up lollies, soft drink and potatoe chips. But wouldn't you know it, reading the Australian Institute of Sport article on "carbo loading" which is about increasing the bodies stores of glycogen to help with sustained performance.  Essentially it recommends high density carbs such as sugar found in lollies and soft drink to help top up your normal diet :) BUGGAR

Because I'm so dedicated I trotted off to the supermarket to purchase some ironman essentials (code for lollies) oh man! Sprung by coach at the self checkout.  DOUBLE BUGGAR.  Now you may be thinking what's the issue, I'm thinking one bag of lollies would have been ok, unfortunately I had three bags.

Today has been an awesome day, I'm loving the new attitude, it has resulted in a relaxing and enjoyable day with a swim and ride with Gusy and lunch with Lydia. I even went to see the Doc to make sure this COLD is sorting itself out, which it is.  Then to top it all off, my Bro rang and sent a very nice and emotional email saying he was proud.  Nice one, it means a lot!

Tomorrow we head to Taupo ....

Attitude Adjustment

It has been a good afternoon, with time for reflection.  I have decided to take on Kellie's suggestion of enjoying the experience, so buggar it! Lets face it, the entire year, in fact the last 5 years, have been full of challenges why is now any different !! I mean look how lucky I am to have such a wonderful group of family and friends many of whom are willing to give up their time and travel all the way to Taupo just to cheer me on. 

So no more being scared or worried (Liza you will be relieved) 

I have survived the training, I have done all I can so BRING IT ON DING DONG !

Biggest Fear

You would think that after a few months of peak training I would be loving this tappering business, a maximum of one to two hours training per day, many days with no training at all.  But to be honest Im struggling, first I get a COLD, which has now turned to a chesty cough yay! and I feel like a lazy bum who should be doing more.  No one is getting sleep, but at least I can nod off during the day, poor Liza has to go to work.... a love you honey :) not long now.

This weekend the girls did the Coastal Challenge, 11k run from Milford along the beach and rocks down to Devonport.  I was support crew with little helpers, as I was hanging out with a mates three wonderful kids (2, 5 and 9).  Unfortunately I was a bit crap at the support role, especially since we were at Takapuna Beach waiting for everyone to run past when they called to say they had finished. Buggar!  OK so perhaps we had spent too long at the playground and then playing in the water .... but we had fun :)

My bike with CMs race wheels.

Camp Mother took on The Rev cycle race, and although she may not be happy with her result it was inspiring to me!. It proves that when the chips are down, including multiple wasp stings cos it got trapped down your top, GOODNESS!  a small tanty on the side of the road can do wonders! get you back on the bike and pushing on to the end.  Without doubt I will recall this courage when I too feel like doing a tanty on the side of the road, of which I expect there will likely be many. Thanks to the generosity of CM I have been able to upgrade my wheels, using elite wheels which are almost half the weight of my wheels and almost cost as much as my bike.  I have put on new tyres and new tubes, I hope this will prevent punctures on the day.  I will take the bike for a burn this avo, Im hoping this will make life easier on the ride section.

Two days before we head to Taupo on Wednesday, I get moments of 'total freak out' where I go silent and process internally, this almost sends Liza over the edge as she likes to talk about everything.  My biggest fear ... is despite all the preparation and all the support ..... come race day I wake to something that prevents me from starting or finishing i.e. illness, weather bomb, injury, equipment failure... something out of my control.  Liza has suggested talking about the what if I don't finish ... but to be honest I can't, should I not finish I will be devastated!!!

The funny old weather ah !

What the ????? can you believe it, race day is March 2nd.  I take comfort in that it could be worse, but goodness me the proceeding 8 days with a BIG sun and rain for the big one. Oh man!

Late equipment change??

Sexy new runners :)

The dilemma ! my current runners are great and have never given me a blister etc... but they are now 2 years old and have done a lot of miles.  Today my new shoes arrived YAY, same make, style and size as the old ones and hence I would expect to form the same trustworthy relationship.  But given it is only 9 days until race day, do you break the golden rule and do a late equipment change ???  I have decided to give them a few days trial run and see what happens  ......

Caught up with coach today for the pre event talk, tweaked the training schedule to help aid recovery of this stupid COLD.  And talked over the race plan, transitions and special need bags ..... The super scary thought is this time next week we will be in Taupo doing the final countdown.

Liza and I enjoyed a nice evening stroll, see photo taken at our local beach 'Little Shoal Bay'

Me at our local beach, Harbour Bridge and City in the background

The cost of Ironman

Yesterday I did as instructed and skipped the days training for a day of rest, luckily I did! Because coach rang last night to check up on me.  Oh man!  Today was to be a 90min run, but coach slimmed it down to 70min and told me to listen to my body.  I can say in the first 15min of the run the body was saying STOP, but I soon talked it round and we managed to pull off a steady 70min run.  The breathing was a up bit up and down with the COLD and all, but I just got it into a rythmn and it seemed to sort itself.

On the COLD front Im feeling a little worse today, poor Liza, who also now has a runny nose, didn't get much sleep as I kept tosing and turning.  At one point she woke me as apparently it sounded like I was having trouble breathing.  I hope she makes it to race day as all whom know her, understand she needs her full 8hrs sleep every night!

With this extra time resting I decided to do a calculation on the cost of doing an Ironman.  The below table shows approx. only based on the last 12 months, it excludes time from work, doctor visits and other items which I probably should have included but when I summed it, I decided it was best not to add anymore.  It certainly is an expensive hobby :)

NOTE: On further assessment it seems some of these are a little lite i.e. pre-events, shoes, clothing etc... the actual cost more in the ball park of 15-18k

The "Cake is Cooked"

Words of wisdom from coach, 'the cake is cooked' in other words the training is done, the focus now is to look after myself.  And would you believe it !!! yesterday I woke up with a sore throat and this morning it has spread to sore throat and ears, runny nose and a headache !!!.  Fancy being taken down by a COLD of all things ....

Today was meant to be a 4hr BRICK (60min swim, 2hr ride and 60min run) but this has been scrapped, coach's instructions to 'sleep, sleep sleep ...'  So Im heading to the health shop for some vitamin C then off to bed.

Although the cake is cooked, lets hope it doesn't flop!

Sunday Long Ride

We had the nieces to stay last night, so this called for a serious 'Wii Games Tournament', lets just say I was not on the winning team and Liza was.  So nothing more on this, other than everyone, including me has sore arms this morning ....

Wii Games Winners, from left Liza, Amelia and Bethan

 I sneaked out of the house this morning for my ride and left Liza to aunty duties :). I was mean't to meet with CM and the NZ Cyclists, however seems I fluffed around a little too long and missed them.  But no worries as coach had indicated a solo ride and it was a long and lonely 4.5hrs.

I'm feeling pretty buggared so very happy to see this weeks schedule is much lighter, max session is a 4hr BRICK and the long run is down from 3hrs to 1.5hrs.  I really feel Like I need to rest up, tired and buggared.

Inflicting Payback :)

Back in Auckland, Saturday morning and time for the last major BRICK session, a nice and easy 5hrs, Yeah Right!  I opted for a small sleepin so hit Takapuna Beach around 7.30am, ok so perhaps it was more around 8ish.  But I did managed to swim bouys 1 thru 3 and return in just over 30min so was transitioning onto the bike around 8.37am.  Unfortunately I was mean't to be at Camp Mothers by now ready for the ride.  oops SORRY!.  We trimmed the ride down from 3hrs to 2.5hrs so I didn't miss my run escort.

The ride was good and I tried to get some payback on CM from last week by pushing her along, racing up hills etc... lot's of fun.  The bike was running like a dream after CM picked it up from its pre race service.  It's amazing what new cables can do, the gears change without any grinding and when you use the brake lever the bike actually slows, awesome :)  Thanks CM !!

Gusy and I after Run

The run was 80min, Gusy joined me but was on the shady side as recovering from the big night prior.  I saw the opportunity for further payback.  When we hit Milford hill I would normally walk from midway, but not today hehe.  We kept a good pace in the run and I know it would have hurt, Buggar! :)

After a good session I decided to pickup lunch on the way home, Gusy's fault as she had been talking about eating chicken during the run.  So I called into KFC for a chicken burger, all good unless you got your newly serviced bike on the roof, yes you guessed right they don't go thru the 'drive thru' very well.  Bang !!!! the steel warning rail at the entrance smacked into the bike, how wonderful!!.  So I jumped out of the car, took it off the roof and threw it in the back of the car and pulled round to the window.  In all the fuss it seems I drove past the speaker where you would normally place the order.  The service guy was not too pleased, oops and buggar!.  What a plonker pants ....

Don't worry the bike was ok.



 

Budding Cyclist's

I am relaxing in Christchurch with the family, check out the up and coming family athletes!

Out of the way Tayla needs to park her bike.

Check out Dylan's gloves, glasses, Giro helmet and bike.

Oh I wish I had my Puffer

Wednesday and the training plan calls for a 2.5hr run.  All very good unless your in Christchurch vsiting family and the weather suddenly changes to a cold and rainy afternoon.  Many times I have been caught and you think I should know better ! ALWAYS pack the puffer jacket (a South Island icon) when visiting Christchurch no matter on the season.  And I did look at it whilst packing for this trip. Buggar !

Unfortunately I was so COLD I cut my run down to 2 hrs only, when I returned to Mum and Dads, Mum shuffled me into a hot shower, but not enough to warm me up so I have been hugging a hot water bottle all evening.  Goodness me ....

I have had lot's comments from folks about how much I have changed in the last few months, I'm not convinced so I have tried to do a before and after photo for comparison.



December (Xmas) 2012

Reinactment from today, still didn't
get the ball in the hoop!

The best laugh for a while, thanks CM

Yesterday (Monday) was an recovery day and hence only an easy 45min run on the cards.  I felt strong and comfortable, however today back into a hard one but ONLY a 5hr BRICK session, which makes a change from the twice weekly BRICKs I have been doing.  But goodness me it was a hard one and I did not feel comfortable running at all, what the ??? I thought I had got over these types of sessions.

The best part of today was calling into a local cafe on the way home, getting a "Almond Croissant" (blame the sister in-law who popped round with one the other day) and sitting down to scoff it with a Nespresso coffee mmm :).  But the absolute joy of my day, sorry Camp Mother but it did bring a smile to my face! was hearing about how CM had picked her bike up after an expensive servicing, took it out on a bunch ride where the pedal fell off.  Every time I read her email I can barely get to the end before I burst into laughter ....

Got the blood test results today, seems my iron is 132, which is fantastic given less than 12 months ago is ranged between 4 and 10.  Way to go Doc!.  The other good news is that my B12 was low, so off for a B12 jab later today.  Lack of B12 does cause me to be a bit snappy and hard to concentrate, so yay at least I was allowed to be moody :) By the time I return to Auckland, visiting family in ChCh for the rest of this week, I should be back to my normal self, well that is what Liza is hoping anyway ... :)

Bonked

BONKED! awaiting my beautiful wife for a pick up

What can say, other than Im tired! and perhaps a little moody and short tempered.  Gee I would hate to live with me at the moment, Im sure Liza is loving every minute.  Yeah Right!

Today was a 6hr bike ride, but after pushing for 3.5hrs I decided to call it a day and phoned for reinforcements.  Gee Im lucky my wife still loves me,  as she had to do a pickup way out at Silverdale :)

Coach did say after 3 weeks of 'hard out' this is when you could hit the wall and it seems I did.  I think I will take the opportunity for a sleepin tomorrow and go for my run later in the day.

A Conspiracy!

Friday was a great day, firstly it was a 'rest' day from training and secondly it was my last day of work for the next 4 weeks i.e. returning 1 week after the race :) And it was date night !!! Liza took me to our new local (2min walk from home) fine dining restaurant 'The Engine Room', which I would highly recommend!

Saturday morning and BRICK time again.  Today the support committee did a tag team affair with Nana meeting me for a swim (60min), Camp Mother taking on the bike (4hrs) and Gusy finishing out the run (80min).  It is only now that I think they had conspired to make it one of the hardest sessions possible.  Nana made me swim out to bouy 4 and back, whilst she headed to bouy 2.  Camp Mother told me off for slacking on her effort sessions, so I ended up gunning it! which hurt.  Then Gusy changed my planned run route and added a few hills and Im sure I ran further than I would have, I expect she kept picking up the pace so I had to run faster.  Im onto you buggars!

But I managed and actually enjoyed it!, even the run which I normally hate.  I felt strong and like I could have run a lot further.  Which is a good feeling leading into race day.  But I gotta admit when I got home I was stuffed and Im picking it will be early to bed as I contemplate tomorrows 6hr bike ride :)

Thanks ladies you did awesome!

A lady of Leisure

Jen's Goggles !

The swim on Wednesday night was good, and I think it helped the body to recover from the run.  Unfortunately my goggles were having a major malfunction, leaking so much it was better off without them.  Luckily for me I have such great mates, thanks Jen for your goggles, I can't believe you gave them to me, I love them !!! see photo.

I was a lady of leisure on Thursday (recovery day), Nana, Gusy and I headed for a late morning swim.  Takapuna Beach was perfect, calm and sunny. Then off to the Doc for a final health checkup.  Race back to meet Gusy and Lydia for lunch, then Gusy and I headed to the movies at the local theature 'The Bridgeway'.  We were by far the youngest there, but I suspect we were the only ones to have a wee 'nod off' mid movie :) We have both been training hard, well thats my excuse anyway.

Finished the day with a massage from superstar Julie.  I wish I could say it was relaxing, unfortunately not the case as she jammed her thumbs deep into my calfs.  Despite the pain, Im still loving your work! :)

Waitangi Day

Yay a holiday, although makes no difference to me, but was nice to enjoy a sleep in with Liza and then a lazy brunch down at the local cafe.  Got home just in time for the food to settle, then off for a solid 3hr run.  I had a 22k circuit planned out, which included catching up with Gusy mid run.  Our cycling friend Camp Mother was to join us, but she ditched us.  Another hard run in the heat of the day with extra sore legs from yesterdays horrible ride.  In the end it was a solid run, finally the running is becoming easier.  I decided to end the day with a quick ocean swim with Sue's group, us and 10,000 other North Shore folks out to enjoy the wonderful day at the beach :)

Long run route

Get me off this bike

OMG what a horrible ride !!!.

Today was a BRICK starting with a 60min squad swim with the Tri Club, breaky at home followed by some procrastinating.  Eventually I got on the bike around 9am for a 4 hour ride, and then a 70min run.

Luckily the rain had begin to fade, however the wind was increasing but I had decided I would rather brave the wind than spend the next 4 hours on a wind trainer.  I headed out to the airstrip as instructed by coach, the plan is to ride 5-7 loops in the aero bars.  By the time I had finished lap 5 I could no longer use the bars due to the gusts.  At times I had to ride in the middle of the road so that when a gust hit I would have contingency room otherwise I would be in the ditch or down the cliff.  There was a lot of inappropriate language to vent my frustration I wanted to get off my bike and throw it into the head wind.

When I finally made it home I really didn't want to go for a run. But slipped into my shoes, downed a gel and headed out the door.  As tired and grumpy as I was the run went surprisingly well.  I even managed an extra run out to the point just to make sure I hit the 70 mins as per my program.

It was during the run that I finally felt I had earned the right to line up at the start of the ironman , and no matter what happens on the day I don't think I could be much more prepared.

Whats wrong with your legs?

Monday morning and the weather has turned, for the first time in a while it is raining and windy! What happened ?? Meet Nana and Gusy this morning for a beach run.  One other member was going to join us but apparently "Rule 5" doesn't apply on Mondays Hehe :)

Today is an easy day in preparation for a 7hr brick session tomorrow.  But Im feeling kinda guilty for a slack day yesterday, which was to be a 4hr mini brick.  However I had rearranged my day to maximise time with Liza and Amelia, actually I just wanted a wee sleepin.  In the arvo when it came time to do my brick I packed all the gear and drove down to Takapuna Beach to start the swim.  Unfortunately the key holder we had brought didn't fit on the roof rack and on top I had trouble locking the car without the remote. 30min later I had chucked my toys and thrown a little tanty in the car park.  The sea was rough and traffic every where, so I flagged it and drove home.

Bike legs, what happens after long rides in bike shorts

The body is starting to reveil the signs of long hours of training.  The funniest was when Miss Amelia asked what was wrong with my legs? she was referring to the distingtive line between brown leg and really brown leg.  Take a look for yourself, see photo.  The same can be applied to my arms.  The other obvious change is in my body shape, now down to 76kg from 85kg when I first started the training.

Coromandel to Home

Thursday and Friday were 'rest days', good job too! as Saturday was our planned ride from the Coromandel back home to Auckland, an expected 180k plus.  It will be the longest ride yet.

From left, Nana (Julie), Gusy, CM, Graham (married to Nana), Liza

We had a posy of 4 riders (Camp Mother, Gusy, Nana and myself) and 2 support persons (my Liza and Graham), each in control of a SAG wagon. We all headed to Coromandel Town on Friday night, stopping into Thames for a few beers and a feed of Thai (see photo).  By the time we got to the cottage motel is was at least 10pm, and well past all our bedtimes.  Unfortunately for poor Graham this is when he realized the padlock securing Nanas bike to the car had NO known number.  Secretly I think Nana would have been quite happy to have sat this ride out, but its OK Graham headed to the local Servo nice and early the following morning and after a bit of explaining managed to get the lock cut off.

In our team kit, from left CM, Nana, Me and Gusy

On our drive from Thames to Coromandel Town we had decided a) we best get moving asap in the morning to avoid the traffic on the narrow roads and b) them hills looked nasty!. So on Saturday morning when I finally decided to take a look at the time and declared to Liza it was already 6.30am, well I have never seen her move so fast, as she sprang out of bed running round the cottage to wake everyone up.  We had planned to be on the road by now .... oops.  Remembering the purpose of our ride (time in the saddle and on the aero bars) I made the call to beg and pled Graham to drive us over those hills at the start.  After all I certainly didn't need to splat myself on the road and I sure didn't see any hills in the Ironman course !! we will comeback for those hills when we are training for K2.  We headed off around 8am ....

Coffee and Cake Stop

In true Camp Mother style she had printed instructions for our SAG wagon captains including where to meet us and with what supplies, for the riders we all had a laminated check sheet to ensure we didn't make any wrong turns along the way.  Our first stop was a cafe approx. 50k out from the start point (see photo) where we enjoyed a nice coffee, cake and as it turned out, the only required toliet stop of the day.  Soon back on our bikes,  I discovered that in our haste to get underway I had the wrong front wheel on my bike and the brake was undone, lucky we didn't attempt those hills eh!. "Lesson one: make sure you take the time to check your own gear! "  I had CMs spare.

Cycle Surgery

After a few more hours down the road we had to make our first official text to the SAG wagon.  A back wheel puncture, despite being well prepaired and skilled! we fixed the puncture only to have it go down again. Yes take a closer look at the picture CM is wearing a rubber glove :) So we opted for the quick wheel interchange, I also took the opportunity to swap over and get my front wheel back. Liza did a great job !!! Thanks beautiful :)  Our next stop was at some place called the "castle" which was approx. half way.  This time it was a quick refresh of bottles then back on the bike.  Not long after Nana waved goodbye and headed home with her personal SAG wagon driver, Graham.  I heard she did a run after her ride, well done! and thanks a million for coming along and keeping us company :) And thanks Graham for the lend of your team top.  We did look pretty awesome in our matching gear.

Liza was awesome and would drive ahead to the intersections so we would know which ones to turn down, no need to slow down and refer the check sheet.  She even kept the bottles of fliud topped up for quick transitions.  Camp Mother, Gusy and I continued on, a mixture of head and side gusts.  Nice!  I can confirm there was no dopping, but there was some major pill popping going on ..... bad backs and sore knees ..... and thank goodness no pains for me, not even the soft tissue of the you know what :)

Ice block celebration

Our final stop called for a wee celebration, at Clevedon we had all surpassed our longest ride so shouted ourselves to a lemonade ice block, nothing better :) other than some of Liza'a hot chips which we stole.  Cheers for that ..

And yes I enjoyed one too

Unfortunately a 4 car accident resulted in a road closure and for us a sudden reroute, thank goodness CM came up with the goods by phoning a friend.  Turned out to be an easy detour, Yay!  As we hit the city, traffic lights and numeerous cars etc... hindered our progress as we watched our avg speed continue to drop.  It was a slow weave from South Auckland to the CBD.  We made one final call into a local servo to refplace the water.  "Lesson Two: Always take the opportunity to refill, I had finished both bottles by the time we we got to the CBD". The team was so dedicated that we even did a lap of Tamaki drive to make up for some of the ks we had missed by not doing them hills at the start.

We started our adventure around 8am and caught the ferry from the CBD at 5pm ish.  A 9 hour day, but in reality our ride time was a sweet 6.5hrs, on track for Ironman day.  I even managed a wee run off the bike once I got home.  Got to be happy with that :) "Lesson Three: Keep up the nutrition until the very end, I had no issues with cramp etc... and felt ready for a run, where as Gusy had stopped drinking only an hour from the end and felt herself fading in the final stages"

Thanks Gusy and Camp Mother for sticking out the full distance, you certainly kept me honest and I would not have done it without you both!!! Thanks Liza and Graham for your SAG wagon support, we did need you both, so well done !! And Julie as mentioned cheers girl!. "Lesson Four: get an awesome support team around you, fantastic mates willing to help you clock up the miles, great coach and masseuse and a wonderful wife and family"

Only one more 100% week of training ahead, then we start to wind down and make final preparations for the day.  2 more days of work (Monday and Friday) and then it's full annual leave until mid March, allowing one week to recover.  It is all starting to come together !

Now, unfortunately my Garmin didn't play ball, so here is CMs data, and since we rode together Im sure they are very similar.  Cheers

The ride stats