My Ironman Journey...version 2.0

Getting to Taupo on Thursday had all of a sudden made it very real, and that feeling was only heightened after check-in and the athlete wristband had been attached to the wrist. Heightened but at the same time there didn't appear to be the nerves to the same level this time when I compared it to 2011 - which I could only put down to having done it once before I had an idea what to expect. 

Here's a quick summary of the 2 days leading up to Ironman:

Thursday - check in, Welcome ceremony and carbo-loading party

Friday - Ironkids race in the morning, last swim/bike/run, drop off transition bags and bike, support crew all arrived, and resting up, in bed by 8.30pm!

And I woke up at 1.30am Saturday morning...so after many weeks of training and build up, the big day had arrived. I hadn't expected to sleep all that well the night prior and so it turned out that way as from that point until I got up around 4.45 I only dozed. You can also imagine my thoughts when I woke up to hear it blowing a gale outside...which was not in the forecast!! Luckily by the time I got up a few hours later the wind had dropped right away so it wasn't a factor.

Breakfast done, it was down to business. Got down to transition about 6am and made the final checks on the bike before heading into the tent to get into the wetsuit. I got chatting to a couple of guys who were doing it for the first time and both were pretty nervous, so it was nice to try and set their mind at ease and to tell them to enjoy the day! That done, it was down to the lake to start it off...!

(images from the swim start)

Swim

The first thing I noticed when I got in the water was that it was warmer in the lake than it was out of it! The air temperature was about 6 degrees but the water temperature was closer to 20! Tropical!

It doesn't take a doctor of chemistry to work out that 1610 people in 1 confined body of water is going to cause some mayhem and potential to wear a loose arm or foot - so it wasn't a surprise to me that the start of the swim was a bit of a bun fight. As with my other open water swims I'd done in training, I positioned myself about half way down the pack at the start as I didn't want to have the really strong swimmers going over the top of me. Even with this, the first 5-10 minutes of the swim was a bit willing with a lot of stop/start and changing of direction to try and avoid being hit. The best way to describe the feeling is like being on a packed train and trying to make your way to the door to get off - that's how jammed it can be at times.

My plan for the swim was pretty simple - not to go out too fast at the start and settle into a good rhythm whilst trying to find open water. The plan also was to try and get directly behind a swimmer so that I could benefit from the draft. After the initial smashfest, things settled down for about 10 minutes or so before the pack started to come together again which resulted in more physical contact with other swimmers.

I was pleasantly surprised when the first turnaround buoy came into view quite quickly. The one thing about swimming any sort of long distance is that it can get quite monotonous - last time I counted golf balls on the lake bed - but this time I think with the constant contact with other swimmers it made things go more quickly. I got to the half way point (1.9km) in about 37 minutes which was pleasing. The second half also passed quite quickly and this time I used the smaller marker buoys to mark progress as they were all individually numbered. The banging into each other was less than on the outbound leg but still there occasionally. The only issue I had was a small bit of cramping in my foot which wasn't pleasant but passed pretty quickly.

I turned at the last buoy and I snuck a quick look at my watch and saw I was on for a good time (for me!). The last 200m seemed the longest but before I knew it, I was out of the water with the race clock just ticking over 1h14m - which was a full 5 minutes faster than 2011. That deserved a fist pump...which I duly did! 

Bike

After the quick 400m jog to transition, it was time to ditch the wetsuit and put on the bike helmet for what I hoped was about 6 hours of riding. I was slightly concerned before the race about how cold I'd feel after the swim as when you're in the water for over an hour - even with a wetsuit on - it does take a bit of time for the blood to get to the extremities. But there wasn't any of that and I felt great. Before I jumped on the bike itself, I had to do something which I hadn't needed to do in 2011...apply sun screen! Given it was sunny out and I was going to be on the bike for a while, I didn't want to take the chance.

(heading out of Taupo for the first time)

The bike course is a 2 lap out and back course from Taupo via Broadlands Road to Reporoa. There are a few small hills coming out of Taupo but from about the 10km mark on until Reporoa it is either downhill or relatively flat. Given the prevailing wind was coming from the southwest which meant a headwind coming back from Reporoa to Taupo, my plan was to use the conditions to my advantage on the way out and push the pace and then to try and maintain a lesser pace on the return when the hills and wind would work against me. Taking full advantage of the downhills, over one 12 minute period I was able to average over 41km/h - which is fair flying for me - so my progress was good until at about the 20km mark a bee decided that it didn't like me cycling through it's territory so it stung me! And it bloody hurt! Now I'm lucky I'm not allergic to that sort of thing but it still isn't a particularly pleasant feeling.

Getting stung by insects aside, I was feeling very good and things were going as planned. I was following my eating & drinking plan and it seemed to be working. The only slight annoyance was the continual rule breaking by other riders who insisted on being inside the draft zone. Riding directly behind someone is called being in the draft and is against the rules for Ironman - there are technical officials monitoring this and if they see it happening then there is a 4 minute time penalty to be served. People always try to push the limit and the officials can't be everywhere so it is annoying but nothing much can be done about it.

About 3km from Reporoa for the first time, I earned the wrath of one of the officials for "littering" on the course - which is also against the rules. I was wearing some arm warmer sleeves at the start of the bike, and on the bike course there is a zone where you can discard any clothes you don't want to wear any more. I came up to this zone and threw the sleeves away...only my aim wasn't that great as they didn't go onto the grassy bank but ended up on the road which is a big no no. And this happened right at the moment an official rode past, so he made me stop and go back and get the sleeves. And to deposit them in the right place. Frustrating but it is in the rules.

I got to Reporoa about the time I thought I would and started the journey back to Taupo. The wind was picking up a little but it wasn't too bad so I was able to keep a relatively good pace which kept me pretty much to the time schedule I had in my mind. There is one section on the return called Heartbreak Hill as it's quite a sharp rise which is not what you need when you've been biking for sometime. When I got to the top, I was a bit concerned about my legs as they felt a bit tired and sore - which when there is still 90km to go is not what I needed to be thinking about. I may have pushed a bit too hard on the way out to Reporoa so I made the call to ease back on the pace a little to see if they would come right as I needed to think about the small run that came after this. 

(going through Taupo just coming up to the half way mark)

The next part of the ride passed without much incident and it was cool to see the support crew at Reporoa when I turned there for the second and final time. I got a real lift out of that!

(turning at Reporoa for the last time)

The last leg back from Reporoa to Taupo was very hard work as things were starting to hurt big time. During an event like this, it's common to go through "dark" phases where things are bloody hard and it's a real effort to keep going - my dark phase was between 140-160km as physically and mentally I was really starting to feel the effects. Combined with a moderate wind it made for a pretty tough time but the determination was definitely there and I resorted to breaking the ride down into 5km chunks. Breaking it down made it easier as I could focus on a smaller target instead of the bigger distance still left to go. Unfortunately things were going to get worse.

Because the day was fairly warm, I was conscious to keep my water intake up as the last thing I wanted to have happen was dehydration. I wasn't only drinking water as I knew that I also needed to get electrolytes into me as well, but the water quantity was much larger than the electrolytes. I also started drinking a bottle of flat coke as that is good for an instant sugar hit near the end. About 20km from the end of the ride, I noticed that my stomach was starting to feel a bit funny - which was at the totally wrong time as it coincided with the start of Heartbreak Hill. I didn't think too much of it and carried on - thinking that it was the coke not reacting too well. Even though the last 8km were mostly downhill, it was a struggle and when I got to the end of the bike I had some real concerns about what was happening and more importantly what was going to happen on the run.

Before I get to the run, the bike time was 6h22m which was a full 17 minutes quicker than 2011 but probably about 10-12 minutes slower than I had planned in my mind - especially as when you factor in my stops to pick up my "litter" and to also re-apply sun screen I would have been pretty close if those were taken out. Overall I was relatively pleased with how it went but the hard part was about to start.

Run

(Starting the run)

This picture was taken just after I had come out of transition to start the run. The funny thing is G & Mal - who took the picture - both thought the expression on my face was along the lines of "No probs - I've got this!". The reality is quite the opposite - more along the lines of "Yeah...there might be a problem here!"

First - some medical jargon

Exercise associated hyponatremia (EAH) is defined as a serum sodium level of less than 135 mEq/L following high-intensity endurance activities such as marathons and triathlons. It is a potentially devastating condition that can occur in otherwise healthy, young individuals. The hyponatremia of EAH appears to be mainly dilutional, with the main contributory mechanism being ingestion of hypotonic fluids (such as water or sports drinks) in excess of sweat, urinary and insensible losses.

Translation - too much water + not enough salt in the system = a problem!

The run course is a 3 x 14km lap course from central Taupo out to Wharewaka. It would be considered pretty flat with only a couple of small bumps to make it interesting. The course was different to when I did it last time and I wasn't sure how I'd go with having to run over the same pieces of road 3 times instead of 2.

I started the run not knowing how things would turn out but determined to keep going. If it came down to it, I would walk the whole way if I had to! Initially I felt OK and was keeping a relatively comfortable pace but that only lasted until just past the 5km mark. The stomach discomfort that I had started to feel at the end of the bike manifested itself at the second aid station which is about 5.5km into the run and without going into much detail there was a lot of feeling nauseous and a little bit of vomiting in one of the port-a-loos.

Now again you don't need to be a rocket scientist to work out that having this happen with 37km left to run was going to drastically alter my race from that point on. There was never any thought of withdrawing from the race voluntarily but I knew that I'd probably be walking a fair percentage of the remaining distance.

So after taking a couple of minutes to re-compose myself, I tried jogging but my stomach didn't like that at all so I started walking. I did the maths in my head and I knew that I had plenty of time before the final midnight cut-off so that wasn't going to be a problem. I was hoping that at some point I would get to a stage where I could start running again but until then I had to start getting some food & drink back into my body to replace what had come out. My initial "diagnosis" for why it happened was that my stomach had reacted badly to the coke I had at the end of the bike because of the sugar content, so I started getting salt back into my body. The good thing is that with Ironman all of the aid stations have a stack of different foods, so I was walking along chewing on potato chips and pretzels as well as getting the electrolyte drink and water into me. Whilst my "diagnosis" turned out to be completely wrong, inadvertently I had started doing the exact thing I needed to do to come right!

Just after I came out of the aid station where it all happened, I came across Rochelle & the boys and she knew right away that something wasn't right. The word got spread quickly to the rest of the support crew who were at different parts of the course that I was in a bit of trouble so they were ready to help me when I got to where they were.

(walking around the 6km mark)

And on I walked. I was fortunate that it as a cracker day as it would have been no fun at all if it had been chucking it down. The one "good" thing about walking was it gave me a chance to interact more with the spectators on the sidelines as there were a lot of characters. There was one area nicknamed the "Boogie Zone" and they were encouraging any of the runners to do a dance on their way through. If they did, the people in the zone would give money to the official Ironman NZ charity. So it would have been considered rude not to so I did a little dance on my way through...Travolta I ain't!

I have to say that the spectators all the way round the course were awesome all day. Even if people were walking like in my case, they would always yell encouragement to you and really try to urge you on. For those who know Taupo, imagine running (or walking) down the entire length of Lake Terrace with spectators all the way along cheering you on. You get such a big lift from that and it does spur you on to keep going.

I finished the first lap of the run and was heading back out of town when I decided to see if I could start running again. I tried this a couple of times but no dice however the third time - which was about 17km into it - I found that I could actually keep going and felt OK. The pace was down a bit but I didn't care as I was just happy to be able to keep going at something quicker than a walk. I made sure that every time I came to an aid station I walked through that as I wanted to make sure I kept up with my food and drink as it was obviously working. I also bumped into my brother so the word was spread out to the crew that I was running again!

In my mind, I came up with a new goal to keep me going for the remainder of the race. I had done too much walking for me to achieve my original target time of between 12-12.30 hours but I worked out that if I could maintain a pace of around 7 minutes per km for the remainder of the race I could still finish in a quicker time than what I did in 2011 - and being a competitive sod I would take that. On a normal day, 7 minutes per km would be a doddle so I was pretty confident I could achieve it. So with that now in my mind, I pushed on and by the end of the second lap I was feeling pretty good.

(seeing the family about 29km into the run on Lake Terrace)

I started the third lap and I felt like I was in a zone and was fully focusing on putting one foot down after another and not pushing too hard. I had changed my hydration plan and had reverted back to just taking water as I felt the electrolytes might have been affecting my stomach again and I also ditched the chips and pretzels. This turned out to be big mistake number 2. I got to the aid station at the 32km mark - which was coincidentally the same one where I had my issues on the first lap - and the stomach troubles returned big time. This time it was just the nausea but it was enough for me to have to revert back to walking. I was gutted to be walking again after having felt good for so long but again there was the determination that I was going to get to the finish line.

So on I walked. I stopped at a first aid tent at about the 37km mark as I wanted to talk to someone about what was happening to me. It's there that they told me that I'd taken on far too much water across the bike and run and had flushed all the salts out of my system. Your muscles and stomach need salt to function properly and if you don't replace what you sweat out then you can get into real difficulties. My situation could have been avoided if I had taken in more electrolyte drink as that has the right balance of salts and other stuff to keep you going. Apparently I was in good company and not the only one who had the same issue across the day. I'm not sure if that made me feel better or not

By this time it was starting to get dark and I knew there was only 5km to go so I wanted to finish. It was starting to get a little chilly so I donned the fetching glow stick and poncho that I was given at an aid station and kept on going. The bright lights of Taupo were getting closer so I knew that I didn't have much longer out there and by that stage it couldn't come soon enough. Not surprisingly given the time of day, the number of spectators had dropped away however there were still a few hard-core ones out there clapping so that was pretty cool.

I made my way along Lake Terrace slowly and when I got to the end I was determined I was not going to walk across the finish line so I started jogging slowly and this was fine. It was a good feeling to get to the lap turnaround mark and carry on straight ahead instead of having to turn the corner and do another lap. There were 3 other finishers just ahead of me and no-one behind me for a bit so I slowed down as I wanted to cross the line by myself.

Coming into the finish shoot, I was feeling a mixture of happiness and disappointment about what had happened. Of course I was very happy that I was about to finish another Ironman race but the disappointment was definitely there as what happened didn't need to have happened and could have been avoided if I'd been a bit smarter. That was soon put to the back of my mind when I heard the voice of Ironman Mike Reilly say "You're an Ironman, Aaron!". A set of high-fives for the support crew, and I crossed the finish line.

Finish time: 14h 06m  28s

(crossing the finish line)

Race analysis - short version

Obviously I had the time target in mind but my first and foremost goal was to improve over 2011. In most area's I did:

Swim - quicker than 2011 (tick)

Bike - quicker than 2011 (tick)

Run - start the run before the first professional male had finished (tick)

Run - quicker than 2011 (cross)

Overall time quicker than 2011 (cross)

So it wasn't all bad!

Post Race

Immediately after I finished and had the awesome medal and towel put around me, I was taken into the recovery tent and weighed. Quite surprisingly I was only 1kg lighter than when they had weighed me at registration on the Thursday. I had expected to lose more across the day so that meant that aside from the one glaring error my nutrition plan on the bike had been OK. I then saw some medical personnel who checked me out and said I would be OK and released me to go and have the post-race massage and food. About an hour after I finished, I was outside seeing the support crew and heading home.

I need to give a huge shout-out to the support crew - Rochelle, Nathan, Riley, Isaac, Glen, G , Mal, Brad, & Emma. They were all awesome throughout the day and especially when I was having the difficulties on the run they really helped me get through it. You guys are awesome!

And I also really appreciated all of the messages on Facebook and other places from everyone. It meant a lot to have that level of support!

The start of the race day report - taken 6.15am on race morning...

This is a pretty cool video that encapsulates the day last weekend. Some pretty emotional moments in here!

One really nice touch is that the last person shown in the video as finishing (the one bent double) was actually 8 minutes over the 17 hour time limit so technically was not entitled to a finishers medal - however she got one anyway. The person putting the medal around her neck was the woman’s elite race winner Meredith Kessler - and it was her own medal she was giving away! And the big guy standing right next to her giving her the finishers towel was Marko Albert the men's elite race winner.

After 2 runs this week, 2 runs last week, lots of stretching, and generally doing things that are good for it, we are...

Before I launch into a bit more detail about the taper, first an update on the infamous right calf muscle. Following my very scientific diagnosis of a minor strain last week, I followed the prescribed course of action - being the RICE method.

Rest

Ice

Compression

Elevation

All of the above are very good for soft tissue injuries and will help speed up the healing process. Now I'm not normally known for doing what is good for me, but on this occasion and given how close it was to Ironman day I needed to do this. So as hard as it was, for this past week I laid off the running (mostly) and focussed more on the bike and swim elements. (Ironically this past week was my highest volume in terms of bike kilometres ridden which would not have happened if I had been running too.)

This is a picture of how my calf looked most of this past week...

When I say it was hard, I mean that I knew that I had an injury that needed time to heal but running is now so ingrained in my psyche that not doing it felt very odd when apart from my calf I felt in fantastic shape! Patience has never been a strong virtue of mine so it was a very long week!!

I got to Friday which was a week after the original injury and I decided to test it out and see how it felt. My plan was just a very light, slow jog around Victoria Park for about 20 minutes. I had 20 minutes as the target but in my mind I knew that I'd know within the first minute whether it was improving or not. And those first few strides were very tentative but the pain wasn't bad (more discomfort than pain) so I kept on going. I stopped after about 1/2 a kilometre to do some stretching and then kept going. I ended up doing 25 minutes at a very slow pace but afterwards it felt OK - about 60% right. I waited until Sunday and then tried it again for a slightly longer time - about 35 minutes. Where there had been discomfort on Friday, it was replaced with some tightness and I was able to keep on without having to stop and stretch like I had the other day. The only thing that approached discomfort was when I went down a slight slope, but that passed. As of Sunday, I'd say the calf was about 75% right.

So it's looking promising that I'll get to Ironman as close to 100% as possible. This coming week I'll continue to take it very easy and not push the pace too much and reassess again at the end of the week. 

Phew!!! Now that's out of the way, let's talk tapering!

So I have now entered the Taper period! There are 2 ways that people react during this 2 week period...

or

There is quite a common misconception out there that the taper period is where all training drops practically to zero and the intensity is very easy. That isn't fully accurate. Yes the overall volume does drop when compared to what was being done up until that point but for at least the first week of the taper the intensity is still kept at a high level - in other words the effort is the same but the overall time will be lower. It's the second week of the taper where the intensity level drops as you start to save yourself for Ironman day.

It is also very common for some athlete's to become irritable, feel lethargic, or feel anxious during the taper. This is because when you go from swimming, biking, and running at high volumes for an extended period down to a reduced volume, your body rebels as it's used to doing more. There is also a reduction in calories being burned which means some people feel like they're putting on weight. All of this is normal and will have the ultimate effect of turning up on race day rested, refreshed, and ready to put all the weeks of effort in training to the ultimate test. 

So to all of my family, my co-workers, and even the guy who drives like a nut and cuts me off on my way to work - I apologise in advance! I may not be the most pleasant person to be around for the next 2 weeks... :)

But what it means that come March 1, I'll be ready to rock!!!

Definition:

A calf muscle strain is a partial or complete tear of the small fibers of the muscles. The calf muscles are located in the back of your lower leg.

The Calf Muscles 

I think it's fair to say that in the past 48 hours, I've done a lot of reading up about calf muscles and in particular what can cause calf strains and the expected recovery time. 

If I'm being truthful, I think I've been very lucky up until this point with the body and how it has coped pretty well with the training. Aside from achy tired muscles, there haven't been any niggles or anything of the like to slow me down. So it could be said something was due to happen...and from my perspective I'm glad it happened 3 weeks out instead of 1 week out from Ironman!

So how did it happen? I went out for a run on Thursday morning - nothing too major just an hour - and towards the end of it I started to feel a little discomfort in my right calf muscle. Nothing major and I put it down to a bit of stiffness that would resolve itself when I stopped. And it seemed to be that as I was walking around normally not long afterwards and there were no side effects, so I didn't think anything more of it.

Saturday comes and the plan was to swim for about an hour and then go for a 2 hour run right afterwards. The swim went fine but as soon as I started running, the discomfort from the run on Thursday returned and as I ran up a hill it started to turn into real pain. I stopped and stretched it out a little and that seemed to do the trick for a bit, but the pain returned so I decided to play it safe and pull the pin on the run after 30 minutes - which unusually is very sensible of me!

I got home and immediately iced it and then started putting anti-inflam on it as well as wearing a compression sock. And then I jumped on the net to do some research. I discovered that there are 3 grades of strain

Grade 1—Some stretching with micro-tearing of muscle fibers.

Grade 2—Partial tearing of muscle fibers.

Grade 3—Complete tearing of muscle fibers. 

Being the qualified physician that I am, I immediately self diagnosed that it was a Grade 1 strain. The foundation for my "diagnosis" was that the pain appeared to be at the low end of the scale and it didn't really impact me being able to move around and walk normally. I've had strains before where walking was an issue and this didn't feel as bad as those so I figured I was on fairly solid ground. The expected recovery time for a Grade 1 is 7-10 days and it is recommended that sports like running are avoided during this time....great!!

Now I have a race number.....!!

Objective

To try and simulate racing conditions that will be experienced on the day at Ironman New Zealand

To test out the nutrition elements that I’ll be using on Ironman day.

Plan

Swim - 3.6km from St Heliers to Tamaki Yacht Club (Bays Swim Race)

Cycle - 5 hours (which depending on speed should equate between 130-150km)

Run - short run off the bike between 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Expectation

To test swimming endurance to ensure that 3.8km Ironman swim will be completed comfortably. To fully test out all nutrition elements on the bike - gels, Ems Power Bars, Perpetuem, Replace, water.

So this was the big simulation day I had been planning. I'd earmarked this day as the day for some time as it coincided with an ocean swim race and was exactly 4 weeks prior to Ironman so the timing was perfect. When I first started thinking about what I wanted to do on this day in terms of distances/times, my original thought was to a significantly longer run than the 45 minutes-1 hour that I settled on - somewhere in the vicinity of 2 1/2-3 hours. Upon taking advice from some people on various triathlon forums, I cut the run right back as their advice was there was no need to do a run anywhere near that long. Given I'm still a relative novice in this area, I did what they suggested.

The way the day was going to pan out was I drive to St Heliers, I would do the swim, meet Rochelle and the boys at the other end who would have my bike, bike for 5 hours and finish up back at the car I parked at St Heliers, and then go for the run. Easy as!

Given the rather rocky swim I'd had at Kohi on the Thursday prior, I was taking a keen interest in the weather for Sunday. Luckily the sun was shining, it was very warm, and the wind dropped significantly from previous day so I was pretty happy with that. It would transpire the nice weather would be a good and a bad thing!

Here is what happened:

Swim

A fairly sizeable number of people had entered the swim - well over 200. I approached the swim with a equal mix of confidence and nervousness as swimming that far isn't something that sits in my comfort zone even after all the swimming I have done. In fact I had only ever swum that distance in one hit once before which was when I did Ironman last time so it was still a big unknown.

Given the large number of people, I moved towards the back of the starting group. This was a self preservation thing more than anything as not being the strongest swimmer I didn't want to be at the front and have quicker swimmers try to go over the top of me. The initial stages of any swimming event is pretty willing so I didn't want to make it any worse.

Once the gun went and I was under way, my main aim was to not go out too fast and to keep a fairly steady pace. Where possible I was trying to stay just behind other swimmer's feet as being directly behind means you use less energy because you're in the draft zone so are "towed" along. I wasn't alone in thinking that so it was quite difficult to stay behind someone. Throughout the majority of the swim I was able to stick with a group of 5-6 swimmers who were of similar speeds so that was beneficial. One difficult element is to actually try and swim in a straight line between the marker buoys which is harder than it sounds as unlike in a pool you don't have a black line to follow. Therefore sighting (or lifting your head every few strokes) becomes critical so that you don't end up swimming further than you have to. I was having some difficulty with my sighting as the marker buoys being used to mark the course weren't very high out of the water so were pretty tricky to spot. (From what I heard afterwards I wasn't alone in that regard!)

With about 1km to go, the water started to get a bit choppy so made things tricky. The chop which was caused by the wake from passenger ferries heading for the North Shore and Waiheke and even though the ferries were a long way from the course, it was still an annoyance. I got through it and was happy to turn the corner and head for the finish line.

Overall analysis: My finish time was 1h20m which I felt was a little on the slow side so I was a little disappointed. The choppy water for the last km may have played a part in slowing me down - I don't know. One good thing was I learnt that even though the swim distance as listed on the website was 3.6km, the actual was 3.78km which basically meant that I had completed the same distance as the Ironman swim. Rating - 6.5/10

Bike

No rest for the wicked. Immediately after finishing the swim I met the family, got the biked loaded up and was on my way. The plan was to be on the bike for around 5 hours so with the weather being good I knew it was going to be a long hot day.

The course I chose for this day was a bit different than normal - in fact very different as it was basically a series of 20km laps up and down Tamaki Drive. Anyone who knows Auckland knows that Tamaki Drive is a nice piece of road that is dead flat and goes past some of Auckland's best beaches. Why I chose a multi lap course was I wanted a course where I could keep a relatively higher speed for a longer period of time and with it being flat it meant I would have to keep pedalling for longer and wouldn't get the micro breaks that you get on the down hill of a more hillier course. So I figured I would do between 6-8 laps of this loop which should bring me up to the 5 hour number I was aiming for. 

In theory it sounded good. Reality was quite different...!

What I hadn't factored into my thinking was that with the weather being so good, half of Auckland might want to go to the beach. And Mission Bay, Kohi, and St Heliers are 3 of the more popular beaches in Auckland so the crowds came...and with that came a lot more traffic on the road. It got to the point that at some points (around Kohi particularly) I was having to weave slowly in between cars who were stopped on the road. Not exactly in line with my plan to keep a higher speed!

Luckily the congested parts of the roads were confined to one part of the loop so for the rest of it I was able to move relatively normally. My overall pedal cadence (RPM) for the entire ride was 86 RPM which was about what I targeted although if you look at the workout file I'm sure it would show that it was higher in one part of the course and lower in the part where there was traffic.

In terms of food & drink on the bike, I was loaded up again with 1 bottle of Perpetuem, 1 bottle of Horley's Replace, 1 bottle of water, energy gels, and Ems Power Cookie bar. My plan was to stop at my parked can and re-stock the bottles and food at the half way point. I was particularly interested in the gels as they were new ones I hadn't used before but were the brand used on Ironman day so I had to get used to them quickly. For those who don't know, the gels are mini packets of a liquid substance that is good for an instant hit of calories and carbs and is more easily digested by the body than normal food. They're an acquired taste! I quickly discovered that these new gels had a pretty nasty after taste so I cut down the number I ingested than what I had planned. They're a big part of my nutrition plan so I've got less than 4 weeks to get used to them.

The time on the bike passed pretty quickly and the conditions remained pretty good although the wind did start to get up again...surprise surpise! Before I knew it, I was back at the car and getting ready to put the running shoes on.

Overall analysis: Total time on the bike - 4h47m27s. The traffic situation disappointed a little as I wasn't able to fully implement my original plan but I still ended up doing just over 130km and the average speed of 27.3km/h was respectable. The food side (gels aside) worked really well and I didn't feel like I was struggling at any point apart from the normal tiredness that comes with continuous exercise. No mechanical issues this time which I was rapt about! Rating - 7/10

Bike simulation data - http://tpks.ws/D4nr

Run

The run objective for this session was never about distance. With the long run I'd done at Ohope the week before, I knew that wasn't an issue. The goal for the run was to make sure that I had gotten the nutrition right on the bike so that I wouldn't have any GI (gastro-inte blah blah) issues. As I mentioned in the last post this is something you figure out pretty quickly on the run.

I only ended up running for 45 minutes which equated to just over 8km and the pleasing aspect was there were no issues of any kind. I had a couple of bottles in my water belt - water & Horleys - and I had some Sports Jelly Beans for that instant sugar hit, and I was careful to ensure I regularly took something in.

Overall analysis: There wasn't too much that could go wrong on this run as it was only a relatively short one. The main test in relation to nutrition was passed with flying colours. The only thing I was slightly concerned about was the pacing was still a bit quick. Given this is something fairly common amongst my longer runs, I may now need to re-think what my pace on Ironman day will be. Rating - 8/10

Run simulation data - http://tpks.ws/8nbR

Overall analysis of the day: Successful! The majority of boxes were ticked, and the entire day seemed to pass really quickly. The total time on the go across the swim, bike, run was just under 7 hours so it was a decent workout. Even though I was happy to get to the end, I definitely felt there was still more there to give which is a good sign.

When you watch the video, you'll hear me allude to the fact that it was windy. Well I wasn't wrong as the wind made for a very difficult swim!!

I was doing the 2 km distance and it was relatively calm for the first 500m however that was chiefly due to the shelter from the coastline. Once I was beyond that, it got very rocky and rough and people were getting battered! It would have been easy to give change to a shorter distance but I perservered!

Probably the longest run I'll do during training. Pace was quick (5m19s per km) but I was able to sustain for over 28km - and it was getting quicker at the end. Plenty left in the tank at the end which is a very pleasing sign!

Objective

To try and simulate certain racing conditions that will be experienced on the day at Ironman New Zealand

To test out the nutrition elements that I'll be using on Ironman day.

Plan

Cycle - 115-120 km in about 4 hours

Run - 19-21 km in between 1 hour 45 m-2 hours

Expectation

To feel bloody tired at the end of it!

So this was the first of 2 big simulation days that I planned for myself. These days are critical as they would give me a benchmark as to where I was in terms of my progress and identify any areas that I may need to change or work on.

The plan was to break each element into 2 laps with home as the central point. The reason for this was it would allow me to resupply with food and drink after each lap as carrying that much on me at one time would add unnecessary weight that I wouldn't be carrying on Ironman day. As had been the norm throughout training, the plan was to start early in the day so that I was finished relatively early so just to prove it....

(and yes that is in the morning!)

To give an idea of what I was taking in terms of nutrition, this is some of what I had on the bike

So what we have in the picture is

2 x bottles of Perpetuem by Hammer (Liquid calories)

2 x bottles of Horleys Replace (Electrolyte drink)

and additionally on the bike I also had

2 x Ems Power Cookie Bars

4 x Energy Gels by GU

Water

And for the run, I had

2 small bottles (250mls each) of Horleys Replace

2 small bottles (250mls each) of water

2 x Energy Gels by GU

And the idea was that by the time I was finished, there would be none of it left!

So here is what happened:

Bike

Nice early start in conditions that were pretty good - it was cloudy and not too much wind. The course I was planning to do was one I was fairly familiar with and took me through Avondale, Rosebank, Pt Chevalier, Herne Bay, and the Viaduct. I had worked out that each lap was roughly 57 km per lap so was the right distance. It was a good mix of flat and some small bumps which would give the legs a good test. From my perspective the more "hills" the better as my philosophy is the hills are my friends (Remember that, G!) and would serve me well on the relatively flat Ironman course.

The first lap passed pretty quickly in just over 2h03m and I have to admit it was a weird feeling pulling into my driveway to restock knowing that I was only half done. When I've done long rides in the past it was never on a lap basis but just done as one long ride so this was a bit different. I thought it might be harder to start out on the second lap and retrace the route I'd already done once that day but it was easier than I thought.

On the second lap the wind started to pick up a bit so slowed me down a fraction. I also had a small mechanical issue with a spoke on my front wheel coming loose which meant I had to stop and remove it. Apart from that it went really well and I rolled back into home finishing the second lap in just under 2h04m so the total time was around 4h07m with the distance being a fraction over 113km. 

Overall Analysis: Nutrition passed the test and I felt like i had plenty of energy ahead of the run. Legs felt in good shape at the end. Overall average speed (27.7km/h) was a bit slower than I had planned but I put that down to the increasing wind and the stop/start nature of things like traffic lights that comes with cycling through a city. I was happy with the result. Rating - 8.5/10

Bike simulation data - http://tpks.ws/7E1O

  Run

Picture this. You've just been on a bike for a bit over 4 hours, and you now have to get off and run the equivalent of a half marathon. Sound like fun? For me, yeah it does...(once again reaffirming I have some screws loose upstairs!)

Apart from the finish line, my most favourite part of doing a triathlon is coming out of the bike/run transition (known as T2) and starting the run. I can't explain why I enjoy that part more than others - it may be because I view my run as a strength so moving into that part of the tri feels comfortable for me. I don't know but I always get a real kick for the first couple of kms on the run!

So it wasn't difficult for me to jump off the bike, get the running shoes, don the water bottle holder, and set off! Conditions were still pretty good although the wind was really starting to get going but as it was a cross wind it didn't affect me too much.

There are 2 things that you find out pretty quickly on the run section of a triathlon - in particular a long distance triathlon. 

Did I push too hard on the bike and zap my legs for the run?

Did I get the nutrition right on the bike?

The first one is pretty obvious - go too hard on the bike, leave nothing in the tank for the run. The second thing is equally important because if you don't get that right then you will suffer on the run. If you don't get enough food & drink into you on the bike, you will either be walking or falling down on the run. Flip side is that if you have too much then you'll spend most of the run vomiting on the side of the road. It's a fine line.

I could have chosen an easier course but again I wanted a bit of a challenge so I chose a 9.8km loop that was on a slight uphill for the first half. I knew that I'd be OK with the hill on the first lap but it would probably start to tell on the second lap.

So I set off on the run and the legs felt great so I was able to keep a good pace - probably too good a pace. Pacing is so important as if you go too hard too early, you'll hit the wall before the end of the run. My race pace that I am targeting is around 5m40s per km - which equates to about 10.6km/h. This is realistic and one that I know I can hold for a long time. The problem comes when you do feel good the bodies natural instinct is to go as fast as possible so it is really hard to force yourself to slow down - as odd as that sounds!

I finished the first lap in just over 53 minutes which equated to 5m23s per km pace so I was quicker than planned. I still felt good going out onto the second lap but that started to change about half way to the turn around point which is where the hill really starts to kick in and the pace started to come down a little. I wasn't at the point that I was struggling but you have to remember at that time I had been on the go for about 5 1/2 hours all up so it's only natural that tiredness starts to kick in. I stuck it out and finished the second lap in just under 53 minutes (I shortened it by a couple of hundred metres hence the time diff) for a total time of 1h46m for 19.41km. The overall average pace was 5m28s per km so still a bit quicker than planned.

Overall Analysis: Pace was probably a bit quicker than it should have been considering that on Ironman day I would have had to run that same distance again (plus a few more km.) In terms of nutrition, I didn't touch the gels so survived on the water and Horley's. Rating - 7.5/10

Run simulation data - http://tpks.ws/Hhbm

So that was it - the day was done. It was a big day but one that was definitely worth it as I learnt a bit. I was happy with the outcomes so it served the purpose for which it was intended.

The picture above is one that I found on the internet but it does speak a volume about any sort of challenge - not just Ironman.

I've heard it time and time again and have seen it for myself where someone has reached a point of physical exhaustion yet they keep going! Hell I've had that experience myself back in 2009 when I competed in my first Half Ironman as part of a team. I had been crook as anything the week leading up to the event to the point that I hadn't eaten anything for 2 days which when you are leading up to a big event is not ideal prep. I was doing the Swim & Bike parts and I knew after about 5 km into the bike that it wasn't going to be a good day as there was nothing in the tank. That is a big realization when you know there is another 85 km of hard riding to go! 

But I stuck at it and finished...OK I was the last person off the bike but I finished! So what got me to the end? It was the determination in my mind that I was going to finish this damn thing that made me drive my body to end where in most normal circumstances I would have stopped. I don't think most people fully appreciate how powerful a weapon the mind can be and if the desire, drive, and passion to do something is there then your mind can push the body beyond it's normal physical limits. The perfect example of this is the finish line of any Ironman race round the world between 11pm & midnight. You will see people striving to complete the race even though their body is physically starting to rebel and shut down, but there is something that keeps them going - that will to win because in their mind finishing is the same as winning!

Fast forward to 2014 and my Ironman 2.0 journey. The past 16 weeks have gotten me to a point where physically I now know in my mind that I can finish Ironman New Zealand. Yes it has been physically draining at times but I am now confident that my body will hold up to the challenge. What people won't realise is that this endeavour is now becoming mentally draining as it is all consuming beast that is constantly never far from the front of mind. If I am not sitting on the bike in the garage, I am sitting at home at night thinking about the training sessions the next day, or I am getting up at 5am on the weekends to get out on the bike  - and then after 10 minutes I am thinking how nice it would be to be back in bed yet knowing that I've got another 4 hours to go.

The past few weeks in particular have had some moments that have been quite tough where the motivation levels have not been as high as they were earlier. 16 weeks is a long time to be "up" for something and based on my experiences last time I did Ironman NZ I knew that at some point I would go through some low patches. 

The key to getting through these harder times is to remind yourself why you're doing this - why you signed up for it and what is the reward at the end - and that the end is in sight! It also helps to take a step back and take a breather (metaphorically and literally) for a few days. I was fortunate that my breather came in the form of our camping holiday last week. I still did a lot of training but outside of that being in that environment was the perfect cure as it was no stress, and plenty of relaxation...well as much relaxation as chasing after 3 boys can give you!

Yeah....only 51 days to go! The scary thing is that I can remember when it was 151 days to go...and it wasn't that long ago!! It's almost like as soon as January 1 hits, it all of a sudden becomes very serious as what has seemed to be a long way off is now not that far away! 

The next 6 weeks of training are the most critical as I have not entered the Peak phase. This is when all the endurance stuff that has been done to date starts to get pieced together ahead of the big dance in March. This will particularly be the case for the long weekend work where up until now I have done a long ride (with a short run right after) on one day and a long run on the other day. I now have to start changing this and to bring the long sessions together on the one day so that my body gets used to doing each hard session one after another. So far, my body has coped well with spreading the long sessions out over 2 days so this weekend will be interesting to see how I feel on Saturday night after the day I've got planned for Saturday.

The training over the past few weeks has been a little fragmented with the Christmas/New Years holidays. Luckily the New Years week was a designated recovery week which meant the volume was going to be down anyway. I also consciously decided to relax and enjoy myself with friends and family over those 2 weeks which meant that any eating and drinking restrictions I had put on my self were thrown out the window. It was quite nice to have a few beers and not be too worried about. That said, I have now had my last beer before Ironman...

The break also mentally recharged me so that I can hit the next 7 weeks reinvigorated! Aside from the physical side, it can also be mentally tiring going through this so the past 2 weeks have been great in making me think about other things for a change!

So I am down to the last 7 weeks and at this point I am still holding to the view that this will probably be my last full Ironman. Very simply the reason is that whilst I've tried to be better with time management this time round compared to 2011, it is still a pain in the a$$ for the family. I think if I have a good day in March with Rochelle and the boys (and the other members of the Team Orange support crew!), the itch will have been scratched and I can "retire" happy. I'm sure some people heard me say that before, but I'm fairly certain this time!

Now where do I find the website for the Coast to Coast....??

Enough rambling from me. 

The post race debrief...with a very annoying Christmas song in the background! :)

In the video I make reference to it possibly being a personal best time - the actual result was it was. 2h29m11 seconds which beat my previous time by nearly 11 minutes. So I was bloody stoked!! What made it better was that out of my age group (35-39), I had the 15th fastest run out of approximately 50 people which I took as brilliant and shows that the base fitness is definitely there for the longer distances - as well as a bit of speed!