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