Ironan New Zealand 2011: HAWAII QUALIFICATION

Ironman New Zealand 2011

First time I’ve managed to get online properly for the weekend and even now I’m on a dongle in the car, so just a quick update.

Hopefully the tweets kept everyone posted on how yesterday went, but here’s a quick overview from my point of view.  

After the run collapse demons of last year I needed to go out and have a clean, level race and that’s exactly how it went.  The swim was good, a solid 56mins with no drama.  Quickest T1 of my AG and out onto the bike.  I felt fantastic on the bike and was able to ride within myself and still cruise through the field.  I got into a pace line of about 8 guys and we rolled through the first lap, picking up a few as we went.  When I checked the watch after the first lap I was on 2:25 for 90k.  Terrified I’d gone to hard (I rode 5:18 last year, so 4:50 seemed a bit eager!) I dropped off and rode almost the whole second lap on my own.  I eased my HR down under 140 and rolled through the rain.  I couldn’t stop smiling, it was just like I’d run through so many times in my head.  I kept thinking how the rain was upsetting everyone else and I was loving it -21 degrees and a bit of rain is a great days riding in the UK!!

I’d hope to hit T2 in 6hrs but wasn’t disappointed to have slipped back to just 6:04 but I needed the confidence that easy lap on the bike gave me.  Another quick transition and out onto run.  Now I was danger zone with no idea if I’d collapse. I kept reminding myself the race doesn’t start until 10miles into the run so I took it super easy.  I let half a dozen guys (and Jo Lawn) run through me and I settled into 4:30 pace for a 3:10 ish marathon.  I hit the 10.5k turnaround and started to feel really good.  Running back into town with a bit of headwind I was in an incredible state, it just felt easy.  I was holding myself back at 20k – what a difference a year makes.  

Out onto the last 21k lap I took a body check and everything seemed ok.  The legs were tired but didn’t yet feel really damaged, I was still getting the fuel down me and I just needed to keep moving.  I think I negative split the 2^nd and 3^rd 10.5k’s.  I’d told myself I just had to get to the 31.5k turnaround and then it was so close to over it didn’t matter.  In the end it pretty much worked, k’s 30-35 were tough but I treated myself to loo stop at 32k just before the largest hill, a drag up to the airport, and new I”d feel great after that.  I lost 70secs but it made all the difference as I had a spring in my step as I hit the hill.  From there it was just holding on until 36k when I let myself go and gave everything I had left.  The last couple of k’s I got down to about 4:30 and I was killing it. That’s what 226k does to your legs I guess.

At no point did I have any idea where I was in my Age Group.  I was counting people at the turnarounds and I knew I was in about 50^th place after 10k of the run, but I wasn’t able to spot who I was overtaking as everyones body marking had washed off in the rain.  I had it in my mind that 9:29 was good enough for a slot last year so I was pushing for sub 9:20 and just doing everything I could. Turns out I caught 6 guys on the run and just missed the 7^th who finished 5^th 8 seconds ahead – perhals I shouldn’t have been showboating on the finish line.

It was an anxious night last night as we didn’t know for sure how many Hawaii slots would be allocated in my age group.  In the end the pro-rata distribution ended up giving 6 slots to 30-34 age group and when we went to check the results this morning my name was in highlights! 

After nearly 4 years chasing this slot it was a pretty emotional moment and it’s still not really sunk in.  But I’ve paid my money, and got my certificate.  Funny, suddenly it seems so easy…

I’ll write again soon and will try to get some decent pictures online.

All that remains now is to work out how the hell I pay for this and how hard I want to train this NZ winter.

Thank you all so much for your on-going support I would not have achieved this without the friendship  and love of so many people. 

Thank you Laurence x

Rhythm and Flow

For me the highlight of last nights pasta party and race briefing was the local Maori Kapa Haka group - this year they had time for a decent performance and the group leader finished with a blessing for all athletes.  As well as wishing that our paths were as smooth as greenstone (love that) he also hoped that we would find our own rhythm and flow to take us through our journey.

For me these two words have a lot of harmony with the on-going advice from Dave Parry and the mental preparation I try to adopt coming into an Ironman.  Don’t fight it, find your own race, accept there will be some suffering, but that it will be temporary.  

As much as I would love to be blasé about the event, unfortunately it’s not in my nature and I find the week prior takes a great deal of emotional energy.   As with my last 2 or 3 Ironman races I have done what I can to simplify life leading to the race day and prepare as much in advance so I’m not wasting anxious energy this week.  After a busy few days I was able to get out of work on Tuesday night and we got up to Taupo in good time Wednesday lunchtime.  Mel and I have rented a house from some friends about 3miles south of town, its quiet and away from the Ironman circus.  

Apart from requisite registration and briefing, etc. and a quick emergency tubular purchase (after all the rear wheel drama last week my front popped on Weds) we’ve been holed up out of town. 

I rode the bike into town earlier today to drop it off and it feels incredible.  The new 1080, two new tyres, new bar tape and a service at Capital (thanks Paul, Mike and the team) and she feels better than new.  I don’t think I’ve been this comfortable on my race bike before, it’ll be another story after 5hrs aero tomorrow, but having confidence in the bike is half of the battle.

The forecast for tomorrow isn’t ideal.  Looks like northerlies and heavy rain.  That should mean a flat swim, a tailwind back to town each of the two laps of the bike and a headwind back to town each of the two laps on the run.   Apart from the heightened chance of a flat in the rain it makes little difference, it’s always (very) windy in Wellington so I’m used to a bit of wind and as a Pom I must be happier in the rain than most of these fair weather antipodeans!!

As always I received some sage advice from Mr Parry this morning; play the long game, remember the race doesn’t start until 10miles in the marathon and that then it’s going to hurt.  Unlike last year, I’m going in with suitable respect for the distance and I’m prepared to suffer to realise my goal.  I must remember to separate the emotional response from my physical condition and not fight the pain as it’ll be over shortly (the quicker I go the sooner it will be over!).

All to do now is try to get some rest and get out there. I can’t wait.

Mel is going to try and get some tweets onto the feed (on the right) and as always you can track on the athlete tracker at www.ironmanlive.com (I’m number 406).  Thank you all for your support over the last few months (years) and the messages this week.  I’ll update as soon as I can with results…

Laurence

Raring to go

Thanks for all the notes and suggestions over the last week re my knackered 808.  Thankfully the insurance came through, and yesterday I picked up a shiny new wheel from the ever obliging Capital Cycles.  So the bike is ready for next weekend. 

I've made quite a few changes to the bike over the build, changing to a tri saddle whilst dropping it down a touch and forward a long way.  Also I've moved my cleats back on my shoes so the pedal axle is behind the balls of my feet.  There's been a lot trialing but it's been locked in for over 6 weeks and I've not ridden anything but the TT rig since Christmas so it's feeling pretty comfy.  Importantly I feel like I can stay on top of a bigger gear now. 

This week I'll try get some pics of the full bike and maybe even some of the newly logo'd race strip.

This morning was my last decent session before race day on Saturday; a race sim of 1.5hrs bike and 30mins run both, at race pace. The legs are starting to feel good and the apathy and tiredness I've come to expect from the start of a taper is wearing off.  

I got some advice from an ex-pro Kiwi long distance triathlete the other day. She said "when it comes to taper whatever you think you should do, do less and make sure you have loads of energy on race morning".  Sounds simple ;)

For once I'm managing not to gorge myself and put on a couple of last minute kilo's during my taper.  Two more days of work and then it's up to Taupo for the Ironman Circus.  Seems like everyone in Wellington is going to be up there next Saturday so fingers crossed this year I'm in the mood for a party come Saturday night.

Good stready half marathon

New Balance Half Marathon (Wellington)

not looking too bad for 19k

Not quite the 1:12 PB of Mr Vaughan at Wokingham but I was still satisfied with today's run out.

I just checked back and this was my 25th Half Marathon. If only I'd followed the pattern of the first six and pb'd every time I would be running sub 60 by now... 

Today was probably the best day in Wellington this summer, mid twenties and still - as in no wind!!  Well there was a bit of wind, Aucklanders probably would have complained about the roaring gale, but for those conditioned to force 6 as a normal day, it was super.

I did this race last year as a sharpener for Taupo and came away a little disappointed, it was my first half marathon in New Zealand and was expecting to run 1:16-18 easy enough, but somehow halves are harder here (that's the excuse I'm sticking to).  The courses don't tend to be designed for speed and they are always honest. Garmin had the clock at 21.5k today.

Last year I went out hard looking for a 1:15, held that for about 5k, and then started going backwards, finishing in 1:21:30 ish and pretty unhappy.  This year I didn't go out with too much of a target, I wanted to try and beat last year and to go under 1:20 would be great.

I warmed up well and it all rolled out to plan.  I hit 10k in 37:18 and felt like I was cruising, the course is a partial out and back and at the 13.5k turn I was in 6/7th with another chap.  Shortly after that we got overtaken and I jumped on to this guy to hold on to 7th place and we moved away from the 8th place guy.  Around the 18k mark I was still holding the 6th place shoulder when we both got taken and I couldn't hold on to these two as their pace picked up.  The last 3k were pretty tough but I went through 20k with a second 10k of 37:54.  A push through the last k and I crossed the line somewhere around 1:20:15.  I'd been checking the pace through the race and was confident I'd be under 80mins, probably around 79.  But I hadn't allowed for the Garmin being so far off reality.  RUN THE RACE LAURENCE!!

Time to chat?!

I worked hard today, the course is almost pancake flat and with only light winds it was a consistent effort, my HR went from 172 to 182 rising by a bpm every k or two.  Mostly I was pleased with how easy it felt.  The pacing was probably about right, I was shot at the end, but I was able to mentally stay on top of the race.  Two guys came through me in the last 5k, but they were better runners (on the day) and it didn't impact my pace.


Prior to Taupo it was great to hurt myself a bit, be faced with the option of slowing, and still push on through to a good result.  I wasn't expecting to PB today, the last months of running have been around consistent volume and preparing for 4:30k's when I'm ruined, not smashing out 3:35's but it's left me confident and I don't feel I did too much damage.  Perfect.

Training Load is dropping down to half by the end of this week and I travel up to Taupo next Tues / Weds for the pre-race fun.  Last few bits to sort (like a race wheel and HPU kit) otherwise I'm ready...

Quick thank you to Mark for taking some great pics today (thanks especially for catching me chatting), more soon, Laurence

Cracked Zipp rim disaster

Tuesday night I picked the TT bike up from Capital Cycles, and it was looking awesome, everything ready for Taupo in 2 weeks.

Weds was my last decent long ride and I was really pleased to roll through 5hrs and 177k without too much drama.  Drama that is apart from hitting a bloddy great pot hole.  A big cracking noise, no hiss and I thought I'd got away with it.

However, I got up for a steady 2hr spin this morning and noticed a slight catch on the rear wheel, further investigation in the dark and there's a decent CRACK IN MY 808!!!

Does anyone know if they can be fixed?  And if so does anyone know anyone in New Zealand that could do it in 2 weeks...?

Alternatively, anyone want to lend me an 808 / 1080 for two weeks - I promise not to pull it through any pot holes!

Any great ideas?

Laurence

Valentines Scorcher - Oly tri

After my flight cancellation and subsequent cancellation of last months Scorching tri I was keen to race this Sunday to test legs and race gear prior to Ironman NZ (just 3 weeks away)

Unfortunately, this month the race route was changed due to a road closure so they took us over a stupid great hill, twice. Meant for slow times on the bike and a bit of a sense of humour failure from me.
The swim was long - I hope - but I came out where I'd expect in the field.  After some really good swim sessions recently I thought I might be a few seconds up, especially as the conditions were great, but I'm pretty happy that with three weeks more swimming I should be able to reproduce, or better, my 57 minute swim last year.  Transition was great, no fuss, nothing to think about and I was onto the bike in under a minute from hitting the beach.  The transition at Taupo is long, but hopefully I can still cut a bit off last years 4minutes.  If I can be on the bike in under an hours I'll be happy.

The altered bike wasn't really hilly, rather in the middle of the ride it had a 2k wall to ride up, twice, that said I wasn't firing on all cylinders on the flat.  I was overtaken straight out of transition and it was all I could do to maintain pace with this guy rather than warm up and go through him.  After a lot of riding since last October I would have though I'd be a little better, but Dave and I have been working hard on locking in the Ironman race pace, so to expect to kill 40k at the moment is probably mis-guided. Still 4th fastest bike (and one dropped out after the bike) is ok.

I do however need to make sure I have some tactics for dealing with negativity, I let the fact someone came past me really get to me this weekend.

Out onto the run I was in 5th, or so I thought, with the next guy was about 1:20 up the road.  I set about trying to run him down; after a couple of 4min k's settling in I easily got into a 3:50k pace which I held to the finish.  Didn't catch the guy but I was pleased with my run, a rel. low heart rate and not too much damage to the legs, best of all 38mins felt easy. 

4th fastest run and in the end one guy dropped out at T2 and another did a short swim, so I got a 3rd place. 

All in all, it would have been nice to smash the bike - it's in there - but I'm very happy to save that for Taupo.

Just a couple more big session over this week and then it's quality sessions, lots of sleep and good food and RACE TIME. 




Not quite the confidence builders I was after, but still great to get out and test gear, etc.

Rain Stops Play

I've had a fantastic training period through Christmas and was looking forward to the Wellington Day Scorching Tri yesterday to test the legs.

For once I was actually resting down a bit and I had planned to really smack the bike, especially after some promising signs after a bike fit from Paul at Capital Cycles.  My folks arrive in NZ on Friday so I took the day off and met them in Auckland, planning a few days touring around Coromandel before I left them in Rotorua on Sunday night to fly back for the race Monday am.

Unfortunately, the weather gods weren't with me and after 3hrs waiting at Rotorua airport the flight was cancelled - the weather in the north hasn't exactly been welcoming to my folks! So I spent another day hanging with the Olds yesterday and resigned to missing the race.

In the end the terrible conditions hit Welly too and the tri was cut to a 15k run, so I was pleased to get extra day with my parents and to play the tourist, admiring Kiwi's and swimming in lush, clear, warm Rotorua lakes.

There is a splash n dash tmrw so I'll give that a bash to test the legs.  750m swim and 5k run is not quite the race I was after but it will have to do...

More soon.