2015 Western Sydney IM70.3

Its been a few weeks since I have posted anything. I guess its because I haven't really done anything exciting. Lots of the same training really. The focus for the last few weeks has been running off the bike. Usually around the 40-90km ride and then a 10-20km run. Distances changing week to week. The rest of the days are the usual swim or runs. The weather here has been all over the place. From really cold to painfully hot.

That's really it up until the race on the weekend. So Saturday I was packed and ready to go. I had no body complaints so no excuses. Adam showed up around 11am and we headed up to the regatta center. As usual there was a lot of people around doing their thing. They had a practice swim that day and the iron kids events. We headed over to rego and signed in. It was inconsistently sprinkling which maybe it annoying but kept it cool. Checked in and the usual shopping for gear completed we headed to lunch and then Richmond for the night.



After the traffic issues getting into the race last year and only having a short setup time we thought that we would stay a little closer to the race and come in from the north as most people come from the south. The motel was nothing fancy but was only 15min drive away.

Sunday morning started at 3:50am. As usual I didn't have a great sleep but enough I guess. A quick breakfast, change, pack and we were on the road about 4:20am. Maybe getting there earlier this time we found that there was very little traffic issues, What we did find that the stupid parking attendants made all the early people park the furthest away. Whats that all about. Turn up last and you get the prime parking. What a joke. Anyway we made it to transition as it opened and had heaps of time to sort out our gear.

Unfortunately the rain was still lightly falling so everything was going to be a little wet.

Being the first group after the professionals I didn't have that long to wait until my group was called to the start. The plan was to start out wide and move in then try to draft for the swim. The hope was that starting out wide I would get into my swim pace and when I moved across I would find others of a similar pace. The race started and I followed my plan. The swim was ok. While I don't mind drafting I find that I am always touching the feet in front while getting touched up from behind. Not hard to deal with but a little annoying when the guy behind pushes your feet down.

Coming out of the water I felt pretty good. I took my time in transition and put on my now wet socks. The plan was to push really hard on the bike so I thought that I would get myself sorted in the first couple of kilometers before putting the power down. After getting on the bike I took a few good peddles to get moving and I felt the inside of both legs twitch. Hmm maybe I kicked more than normal in the swim so this could be fun. Then I bumped my watch button and it told me I was now in transition two. I stopped the watch and then had to put it into ride mode and do everything manually from that point on. Later that would become annoying as I didn't know where I was up to for overall race time. The ride while reasonably flat was still crap bumpy roads. They did change the course this year a little so the first lap had some new parts that I had to see what they were like. Stupidly while I know that the roads are still technically open I wasn't expecting to be almost hit by a truck during the ride. I was heading to the second turn around point on the first lap and I see a truck parked on the side of the road. Not thinking anything of it I just ride up as if I was going to pass it and then to the turn which would have been 20m ahead. Just as I am almost beside it the truck moves and pull out on me. I pull the brakes on quickly. The truck moves 20m up the road and just stops right where I want to be. I almost come to a complete stop before sneaking past it and making the turn. The worst part of it was there is police there doing nothing about the fact that this jerk is just getting in the road.

Anyway moving on past that I pushed as hard as I could. I was taking my tablets to stop cramps and they seemed to work well. Being in the first group there was not many people around. You find the quick guys and girls from the groups below catch you but that's about it really. Near the end of the ride I know I had gone pretty hard. My hips were feeling it and my legs were tired. The sun had started to come out when I got off the bike and while I felt tired I seemed to be ok.

I put on my shoes and race belt and put another packet of tablets in my back pocket. The plan was to go as hard as I can for as long as I can and then just hold on. I knew already didn't have a heap left but I thought that if I can get through the first 7-10kms in one big chunk that would be a great start. I went up the first small hill over a bridge and I felt cramp pain from both quads. Obviously due to me pushing on the bike. Its ok I have felt this before. The first time it almost stopped me. The second I managed it with my tablets. I had planned for this so I felt I was good. Knowing that I was very close to the first aid station I went to get my tablets out of my back pocket and they were gone. Nooooo.. Bugger I had dropped them.What a crapper. Oh well nothing I could do so I moved on. It took some time to to think of how to manage it and I decided that if I increased my run cadence I would then take smaller steps and not land so hard on my legs. Then if I can get a lot of fluid into me I should be able to get through it. While I did feel a few moments of pain during the rest of the run it generally worked. I did make it to the 7 or 8km aid station before I walked so I was happy with that. Then the plan was to run between aid stations where I would walk, take in some nutrition and reset. That's how it was for the rest of the run. The sun was really hot when it was out but we did have some clouds so we were lucky that the heat was not on us all the time. Crossing the line I was done. I found a bag of ice from the medical staff at the finish line and sat down. Actually the medical staff do a good job. At one stage I was in the recovery area and I wanted to get out of the crowds. I found a nice patch of grass and had a lay down on my towel. I started to stretch my leg while laying down and before I knew it I had a medical person over me making sure I was ok. We had a quick chat about some good recovery techniques and then he moved on.

Anyway in the end I was about 17.5min faster than last year which was a good feeling. Its just a shame it hurt so much. haha. Final results.

Nepean Triathlon 2015

Training has been going ok. Nothing exciting to report really. Had a some sick weeks in there but I was luck enough to get over that before the Nepean Triathlon. I had some clear goals set out from last year. I didn't know how I would go with that as I have really only been training for distance but it was good to see.

Anyway the day started off nice. 4:40am wake up and a 7am race start. Lucky it started early as the sun was going to make it hot later in the day. Getting to transition setup we were greeted with some volunteer letting us know that wetsuits are not allowed today and how wonderful that is. I don't know what he was thinking but its always best to swim in a wetsuit. It doesn't worry me either way but if I get the chance I will put one on if nothing else you get a better time. The worst part of no wetsuit was before getting in the water. It was freezing. Being that early and the sun was not really up and the ground was cold and by the time I was in the water my feet were numb.

Usually I stay to the side of the swim pack but I don't know why but I went to middle. All the time I was thinking this could be a stupid idea. Lucky I found some nice gaps and before I know it I was nearer to the front and reasonably free of the crowds. I only had one guy try to crawl over me just after the first turn but apart from that it was a good swim. I felt relaxed and my heart rate was reasonably settled.

I got out of the water and into transition. I pulled the bike off the racks and both elastic bands holding my shoes open and up snapped. Hmm thats annoying but ok my flying start will be a slightly slower push start. haha. The ride course had changed a bit and we had discussed when to take on nutrition. I kept to that plan. I got into a good rhythm and pace early and started to relax. The bike was nice. Once again I hadn't overdone it. Heart rate was good and I felt like I could keep going.

Off the bike my toes were numb again from the wind but they didn't take long to warm up in the run. I passed the first couple of aid stations feeling happy. I know I wasn't running at last years pace but I felt like I had found a pace I could use to get to the end and have some left over for a burst when needed. The heat wasn't the best but it was still early and only a 10km run. In the last 2kms I picked up the pace to finish strong.  I felt like I had made a good effort and was happy it was over.

The final time was 10min behind the plan and here are my excuses. :P

1. It was a non wetsuit swim. Last year we used them
2. The bike course changed so there was more slow sections.
3. I am older.. Haha
   
   

So now the focus is on the IM70.3 in a months time.

Results...

22/9/2015

Just another few weeks of training. Nothing overly exciting happening. I did get my watch back from Garmin. They said it was either the wheel size setting in the watch or the speed and cadence sensor is having issues. So when it was returned I checked the wheel size and that was ok. On my next ride I was watching the current speed and it was going up and down from 0 km/h to 33 km/h while I thought I was being consistent. I stopped and disabled the sensor in the watch so it would have to use GPS for speed. Sure enough my speed suddenly became what I would think was normal and stable. So until I get a new sensor I will continue to use GPS and not know my cadence.

There has been a few tough weeks of training. Lots of riding and very little running. That was until last weekend where I had to do my first run in a while. I was supposed to do  2-2.5hrs and see how I go. It wasn't really good. Legs, knees and feet hurt. I didn't make the 2hrs but I did get 21kms out so I thought that that was a good effort for the day. The next days brick session (ride and run) wasn't the most fun thing I have had to do.

This week is a rest week. I am looking forward to just stretching and easy sessions.

Technology fail

The last few weeks have been a struggle in training. Its not really the distance or effort required anymore but more the motivation to get out there. Its cold, wet and lonely. I have never been a good trainee but not having someone to ride and run with just makes it hard work to get out there. Once I am underway I am ok but getting out of bed on a weekend is not the easiest. Apart from that I have had a bit of a technology fail..

So it all started a couple of weeks ago. I was intending to do a 3hr ride. I know now that's usually about a 90km ride or more depending on how I am going. So mentally I map out where I want to go. Anyway I start out and seem to be going slow. I think that maybe I am having an off day as I am only around the 25km/h average mark. I push a little harder. The average hardly moves. I think I will push to the 30km mark to get the average up. So I push a little harder. Now I know by what gear I am in and my cadence that I should be nailing it. I get to the first turn around and see 26.8km/h or something. I am baffled. I see that that distance is a little short but thats ok it will all work out in the end. I push the next 30kms back towards home. When I get close and about the 2hr mark I give up. I throw in the towel as the average has reduced to 24.8km/h. I am annoyed and tired. I don't know how I could  be going so slow. Also the watch only showed 48kms for what should be about 63kms.

When I get home I let it upload the results thinking the GPS points would be cutting corners etc. Nope it looked perfect. The elevation looked funny but the track was good. Hmm ok I put that down to a bad watch day. I think nothing of it as it is working for everything else.

During the next week I got myself a Garmin virb action camera. Its actually pretty cool. All your ANT+ devices link to it and when editing it will import all that data and you can show it on screen. It also contains GPS and a few other sensors within the device.

So the next weekend comes and I think while this is some really boring video I am going to record my ride. It was supposed to be a fast 60kms and used to gauge my improvement. I didn't want false readings for this one and thought it would be good to see what both devices registered for distance etc. Off I go on my ride. Trying to go as hard as I can without packing it in at the end. The watch was once again killing me. I think the top average speed I got to was 29km/h. Unfortunately I could not look at the virb screen or play with it while riding. I know there is information on it but as it was the first time out for it I didn't know all the buttons yet. In the end I just put my head down and rode. I do like to see where I am at but this time I did not get to.

Once at home I stop both devices. Once again I look at the watch. 48km or so doing about 26km/h. Damn... :( I then look at the screen on the virb. I see a little 32km/h average on screen. Thats a little more like it I think. Inside I upload both .FIT files (the files that Garmin devices create for activities) to Garmin connect. You can see there is a big difference in the results. The virb results are more like I would expect.

So frustrated I email Garmin and search how to hard reset the device. If anyone is interested below are the instructions.

a. Hold POWER BUTTON on for 15 seconds. The device should hopefully start to turn off.

b. Press and hold UP ARROW BUTTON and DOWN ARROW BUTTON
c. Press but don’t hold the POWER BUTTON for a second or so second – device should turn on
d. Wait for 1st beep then release UP ARROW BUTTON
e. Wait for 2nd beep then release DOWN ARROW BUTTON

Today I called Garmin after they replied to my email. They have never heard of such a thing so the watch is being sent back. I did go for a short run today with Adam and both watches had the same reading so maybe the reset fixed it you never know. Guess we will see when i get back. Time to start using the 910xt again for a while. :(

Damn sickness

Its been a few weeks since I last added anything here. So whats happened. Well a few weeks back it all started out well. I had a few good days of training then I got sick. Some stupid cold. Lots of coughing, runny nose and something in the chest. So I took the rest of the week off training and packed myself full of drugs.

The next Saturday I was on a flight out to the Philippines to work for a week. I felt sorry for the guy next to me on the plane as I coughed and sniffled my way through the 8hr flight. I was getting better but a long way from fine. All the poor old guy wanted to do was spend a few weeks in the Philippines looking for girl and here I was maybe making him sick. Landing was a real nice change. The warmth made me feel better. I met a mate who is now living in the Philippines for a drink the night I landed. Was a real good time catching up and talking about the old days etc. It was a long day and night but heaps of fun.

Mike (coach) had given me a rest week while I was away so I had no training to do. I don't think that I would have done anything anyway as I was feeling tired. The trip itself was really good. It would have been better if I was not sick but with all that it was still great. I do like meeting the team as they do take care of me. They are a really good group of people and I enjoy the friendships that I have made. Lucky I have met them before otherwise I would have looked like the sickly Aussie kid. So annoying. I think I was finally starting to feel better the last day I was in town.

Coming back I was able to start training again. It was so hard. Not only was it cold but I seemed to still be struggling from the sickness. I just felt tired and unfit. This week has gone well though. So far I have done everything that I needed to. Still not easy but its getting better. Slowly it is also getting warmer so that will make it nicer. I am just not looking forward to the damn magpies that are going to start attacking soon. Currently there is only swimming and riding. We will start running a bit later in the program. A different approach for me but I am happy to try it.

Cold winter days

Its been cold outside and its hard to get motivated. Anyway the plan is in and I have started running through it. Nothing big at the moment. Actually dropped the running back at the moment which is ok by me as I have been getting treatment for my foot issue. Coach wants to focus on the bike for a while. Swimming is still going well. Not long sessions, only around 1.5km a few times a week. I have also started to use the gym more than before. I want to get into the habit of actually going this time around. Lets see how long that lasts as the gym is not that interesting really.

As far as the foot issue goes I have been fitted with some off the shelf inserts. It seems that I roll my foot inwards on the left side and drop my left hip as I step. I think the physio was telling me I am weak as piss without actually saying it. So with the inserts and some exercises to strengthen both the hip and foot she hopes we can be good. If not we might have to look at more expensive custom inserts. But so far they are ok. I think I am getting better but as I haven't run as much who knows.

Last weekend I got to head out to the multi sport expo. It was the first year it was run. It was pretty small but I hope that they get bigger as the idea is really good. Not enough accessories people which was strange as I assumed they would be over that sort of thing. Maybe having a stand was to expensive or something. Anyway I did pick up some wireless headphones. They seem to be pretty good.

Well 10 months to go now. Fun times ahead.

The training plan

So the last few weeks a couple things have happened. Non training related was my first dirt bike in a long time. That wasn't too bad. I thought it would be a lot harder than it was. We spent the night in the bush camping. I woke up to ice on everything but a great looking day. Was fun getting back out there and it looks like I will be out there again this weekend.

On the training front I spent last week just keeping fit and working with the physio on my foot issue. She has decided that I should get some orthotics to help with some rolling that I do while running. I also drop my hip on the left side as I run so I will need to strengthen that up as well. Apart from all that I have been rolling, taping, stretching and exercising as she requested.

Over the weekend I dropped in to see my coach and talk about the plan. We discussed all my races coming up and my goals. With that he has created my first couple of weeks of my real plan so it has officially started again. So far so good. I also received my plan from the gym's PT. I will try to keep up the gym work a bit more this time. I just need to make it part of my schedule and it should work out. The only issue I see so right now is the 4:30am start to get to the gym while it is so cold outside. Not fun but that's ok.

I also did my first outside ride in a long time on the weekend. It was just short of 50km and it hurt more than I wanted but I got through it. The body just needs to get used to it again.

Pre training plan days

This week has been an easy week. I got to have a long weekend so that's always nice. But what else has happened. Well I went to see a physio on Friday. While she did not know what was actually going on with my foot issue we have decided to treat it like plantar fasciitis. She taped the foot up which seemed to help a bit so maybe we are on the right path. I have another appointment to see her today so we will see what is said about that. For now I am not allowed to run.

With that news I have been swimming and doing a lot of riding on the new trainer. Its not bad. Hurts like you would not believe as you don't get any real coasting time as you do on the road but I guess that's a good thing. If I keep it up I might be a stronger rider yet. It was always hard to get motivated to be on a stationary bike but so far this new trainer has help. On the IM training front I am still waiting for the plan to be done. I know it is underway as we have entered in events we wish to do etc. I am still deciding on a couple yet. Guess it all depends on money and time. Apart from that I have had a couple of weeks with a personal trainer thanks to my gym. Its just the free program that you get when you join. The guy seems good. First week was a fitness and mechanics type of session. Nothing to hard but annoying enough. This week he showed me a bunch of things that would be in the plan he is making. It really smashed me. I might be able to swim, bike and run ok but I just can't lift. I would say I lift like a girl but I am sure there are a lot of girls that would lift better than me. Guess I will try to keep up with that this year also and hope that it helps.

One cool thing that happened. Well I think its cool as I didn't know what to do with all my stuff otherwise was I got all my IM NZ stuff framed. Well its back now and I think it worked out pretty sweet.

So that's my NZ one. Now I need to do Port Mac next year and get another one made up.

1st week of winter

So its been a slow week. Just keeping fit as much as I can. I haven't done a lot of stuff. A swim and run is mostly what I have done. Although I have a new toy. I found a Wahoo Kickr on ebay.

Sure its kind of hard to see in my bad image but its a nice trainer. So this weekend I picked it up and started playing around with software. Firstly it was created for apple in mind. So being an android person there are not as many apps available. But I believe recently they changed some things that allowed more people to write applications on a wide range of platforms which means that while apple has that market share there are more applications coming to compete.

After needing to use the Wahoo app to set it up I then started playing with whatever people suggested. Using an old ANT+ dongle I had from my old Garmin watch I could then connect an old PC to the kickr and have it control the resistance. It makes for a tough ride. Unfortunately I could only find one program that would allow me to trial the video training feature. That was kind of fun. I did mess up and selected riding around San Fran. Those streets are tough so it makes it hard to look at the shops go by remembering where you have been when your struggling up the hills. Near the top I remember thinking how much easier it was going up that hill on the tram. haha

Well I believe that I have decided on the application to use. BKool make what seems to be a nice product. You can easily import gpx tracks from your previous rides and it will make a virtual 3d track from it. Or if you are really keen you can use video and GPS to create a video track. I have already uploaded a couple of gpx files of old rides to see how it works and although I could only see the map and elevation not the 3d world it did make riding a trainer more interesting. So I will probably pay for that subscription so I can use the 3d side of things.

On the coach side of things I have found one. It actually wasn't the guy I was thinking of last week. I had a friend Mike who raced NZ with me. Well since he has had to give up running because of knee issues he said if I am looking for a coach then he is happy to do it. He used to coach me when I first started. He didn't coach me for the NZ IM as he was competing and didn't have time. So I know what he is like and it should work out well.

So now I just wait for the first plan to hit my Dropbox and we will be off.

Ironman 2.0

Ok so I had a crazy moment and signed up again. I don't know what I was thinking. Well actually I do. Adam after completing his IM in Port Macquarie won free entry into next years event. Since I had been saying one day we need to do an IM together I suppose I really needed to keep to my work and also sign up. So here we are for another year. Yay I think.. Hmm

I don't have much planned yet. Just two races booked in. The Western Sydney 70.3 on November 29th 2015 and Ironman Australia on May 1st 2016. I still have time to work the rest out. I am looking at the Husky long course which is in March but we will see what the coach suggests.

On the coaching side of things it looks like I need to find a new one. My old coach is not available for some of the training this time round and doesn't want to affect my training so my first task is to find a new coach. I have someone in mind so we will see how that goes.

Right now I am just trying to stay fit. I don't want it to have to be a hard slog to get back into it so I try to keep running and swimming. I haven't been on the bike much but I should do that more soon. So for those interested I will continue to write about my IM life in this blog.

Race day..

Well Friday night sleeping was a waste of time. Went to bed around 10pm and up at 1am.  Watched the back of my eyelids until about 3am then decided I may as well get up and have something to eat. A couple of bananas and some toast with Vegemite later and the others alarms were going off to get up. We got dressed and headed to the start at 5am.

Overnight we had wrapped part of our bike and helmets in plastic to keep them dry so that morning our first task was to take that off and give them a final check. With that done we left transition and headed to the swim start. The weather was cold and cloudy with a little breeze. The water was flat which was what we wanted. We found a spot to change into our wetsuits and handed our gear bags to Dee. A tip I can give is not to give your friend your gear bag. Check it in as it will get it back as soon as you get to medical and when you can’t find your friend after the race it means you have warm clothes to change into. But enough of that for now. The crowds had shown up and the Maori guys came in on a traditional boat to welcome us. The atmosphere was good but you could tell everyone was fairly quiet and concentrating on the day ahead. At 6:45am the professional males started followed but the pro females a minute later. With them out of the way we all headed through the timing gate to check us into the water. I found a position to the left edge of the group. Not too far out but far enough that I wasn't directly in the washing machine that was about to start up. The water was cold which I later found was colder closer to where I was than over near the buoys. With the 3min countdown announced I made sure I had my watch set and I was ready to go. With the sound of the canon we were off.

I had a good start. Not too fast and no one bashing into me. I slowly started to move in closer to the pack as we headed up the course but keeping my distance so I didn't get tangled in and bashing around. The swim course was a 1.75km straight swim. Then a right hand turn and about 100m till another right hand turn. Then 1.75km back before making the last right hand turn and 200m swim back to shore. The water was amazingly clear. You hear people say on other swims how clear the water is when you can see a murky image underwater. In lake Taupo it was like a pool. You could see for ages. It did give you something to look at while you swam. Only problem I had is that I want to turn left all the time. I think that if I closed my eyes and just swam I would make a nice big left hand circle and end up where I started. Every time I looked up to sight I was off target and moving away from the pack. Well I guess that's better than running into people all the time. As the swim went on the pack thinned out. I found I was swimming on my own by the last buoy. I headed across the timing mat and had a slow 400m jog along the road and up the stairs into the transition area. I grabbed my bag and headed into the change area.

T1 was my first debacle. I had decided to change into some bike shorts for the ride. They had more padding and I wanted to feel comfortable. I wasn't worried about the T1 time as I knew I had all day. All the volunteers were eager to help you strip off and help you dress if you liked. As I was doing a full change I thought I had this. I don’t really need help. So the female helper just waited and watched until someone else came along. First thing was the wetsuit. Yep all good with part one. I dumped all my clothes on the ground and grabbed my towel.  Stripped off the top part of my tri suit and dried off as much as I could. I put my ride shirt on and took the rest of my gear off. I picked up my bike pants and went to throw them on. This is when I found was that it’s not so easy to get bike pants on when you are a little damp. The rubber around the legs sticks nicely and the material just stretches. So here I am half nude struggling to pull my pants up past my knees. It must have made a wonderful sight for the helpers. Oh and yes the water was cold that I had just been swimming in for last hour. Haha. Finally I had my pants on so I grabbed my shoes. I went to step back and sit down to put them on and I hear crack. Oh no whats that. I had stomped on my glasses. The arm had broken off and can’t be fixed. I remembered the beginners seminar where the presenter had said things will go wrong and just cope with it. Well I had my first two issues in T1 and it was still early in the day. I put them aside and left the change area. Picked up the bike and helmet and headed out of transition. Sure I was annoyed about my T1 time but I knew I was well ahead of the time I had wanted to have this part done in so I was still happy.

To get a little side tracked I did have a couple of goals I would have loved to have hit. The first was just to finish no matter what. Second was to try to get around the twelve hour mark. I assumed 2hrs for the swim, 6hrs for the bike and 4hrs for the run. Now I knew a 2hr swim was very slow so that’s where I knew I had transition and other time to move around and still make the time. The swim I had done in 1:06 and with a slow transition I should have been about the 1:18 mark. So I was up. Woohoo.

The bike started off well. I was trying not to go to fast out of the gates but the excitement of it all doesn't help. The rain started to come down and the wind had picked up. As we climbed up the first hill to get out of town the fog was still around and it was looking to be a crappy cold ride. The first hill is about a 4km climb to the top and then a 6km decent. It only has a couple of steep parts so most of it is just grinding away. It was nice to hit the 6km downhill section though. Once over the hill there was nothing exciting really. I kept thinking that this is really just like home with bumpy roads. The wind was in our face all the way out to the turnaround point. The bike course was two laps. Basically directly out and back. Nothing special or interesting to keep your mind off it. The road just kept going and going. You see the road turn and think yeah it must be around the corner but no just another straight full of bikes riding out. It did feel nice when I made it to the turnaround with the wind behind your back. Finally you were able to pick up some pace again. The hill climb on the way in was pretty easy I thought and I passed a heap of people every rise we came to. I didn't know if this was a good or bad thing but I kept going. At this stage the rain had stopped and the sun had come out. It was starting to get hot. In town the crowds had picked up and the support was wonderful. Unfortunately I had to do it all again. This lap the wind had picked up and it was like I couldn't get the bike moving. All the way to the turnaround point was a struggle but people were not powering past me so I knew it wasn't just me fading away. Turning around was great. Once again the wind helped. That didn't last long as it soon became a cross wind. I was getting frustrated that I was still on the bike and not seeming to make much progress. I thought I needed to go to the bathroom and while I could have done the triperson pee as you go technique I decided that getting off the bike for a couple of minutes would help me collect my thoughts and not have a meltdown. 30km from home I found a toilet and got off. I knew in my head 30km was not far so getting on and finishing this stage was going to be done. With that out of the way I headed off. About 20km from home the nice cross wind we had became a head wind and it got a little stronger. Lucky I was close to home and kept on going. 6:01 after the start of the bike I was in town and into T2. I was sore but happy to have that behind me.

T2 was more of the same. I had decided to do a full change for the run. I knew my socks would be wet and rank from the ride so a change of clothes would feel like heaven. Then in walks another debacle. I have a nice old man helping me and talking to me about how my day is going as I am unpacking my gear. When I grab my shirt I find that it is soaked. Not just a little wet but I am talking it could have been sitting in a swimming pool over night. Then I noticed all my gear was the same. I assume it was on the ground and the overnight rain had caused a puddle to get into the gear tent. So here I am getting out of wet bike clothes and putting on even wetter run gear. Great. Wet socks and shoes as well. The helper was all concerned if I would be ok but I just smiled and said it’s all good. I mean it would have to be as I had no other option.

I ran out of T2 annoyed but feeling ok. I mean how good was I going to feel at this stage anyway. I guess I felt good. It was nice that the sun was out as the top half of me dried reasonably quickly but the shoes and socks never did dry up. The run started well. I had a thought that if I got through 10km’s then I am a quarter of the way through. Sure I wasn’t really as its 42.2km’s but hey in my mind it was easier to calculate it on 40km’s and the last 2.2 doesn't matter much when you get that close. I was doing a great pace at the start of the run. Splits were around the 5:30 per km. I knew that was faster than I had planned but I felt great and thought lets just keep going and get some time under my belt before I fall apart which I assumed I would at some stage. The crowds around town were also helping as they call your name out and cheer you on to keep going. About 1km into the run I see Mike sitting in the gutter. We chat as I run past but I don’t get much out of him. I didn't know if he was out or what. Sure I could have stopped to help but I was on a mission and going well. Drink stations were 2.5km’s apart and I made the 5km mark strong. After that it got harder. The sun was really heating the place up and I remember thinking that Taupo was not supposed to be a hot run. This is going to suck. But I was dry at least. Well apart from my shoes. I had felt a few moments where I had a cramp coming on but I was taking my tablets and it seemed to be working. The only other issue I had was my foot pain. Right now it was not bad but I had never run this distance so who knows what could happen. Soon I made it the 10km’s I wanted and was happy to be that far though. But the run became a run / walk from aid station to aid station. The run course was a three lap deal. There was a few hills around but nothing crazy although they seemed tough by the last lap. Heading back to town you followed a path along the waters edge and with the wind blowing it was a hard slog. Close to town the crowds were bigger and that really did help keep you going. With lap one down I was off on lap two.

Once again as I was in the crowd I could keep going for a while before I needed a rest. I would take it as a reward. If I had a nice long run section I got a good little walk. By this time I had had enough of the gels and was eating fruit mostly and drinking water. When I walked I would try to keep some pace and just refocus my thoughts before starting again. About a third of the way around lap two the rain started and it was heavy. I was soaked and cold again. The wind was now blowing hard and the rain made it very unpleasant. I found a poncho at the aid station near the end of lap two. It must have looked funny as the poor girl trying to put it on me was struggling and I guess as I was so wet it did not help. But me managed and I was off to start lap three.

Not far into lap three the rain stopped and I thought it looked like it might stay away this time. Just windy is better than wet and windy. I soon found the poncho too hot to have on so I handed that back and kept running. I was running as much as I could and making goals as I went along. I knew on lap three that I was close to my time goal but probably over. I was ok with that but I thought that if I pushed I would get close. So I had a little chant of “how much do you want this?” going on in my head. It did help to keep me running longer than I had in lap two. Soon I caught up with Jacinda and we had a chat and short walk together before I took off again. My foot was in real pain and I was wondering how long until the tablets stopped keeping the cramping away. At the far aid station I took my last tablets and hoped that would do me till the end. Then the rain started again. Damn it. I didn't want to wear a poncho in my finishers photo and with only three aid stations to go I decided I would just live with the cold and wet. The last aid station I was never going to stop at as it was 200m from the finish line anyway. I was pushing myself and calculated the time and hoped that my foot would not blow up. When I made it to the 40km sign that I had been eyeing off the previous laps I was ecstatic. I knew I was going to be able to drag myself home and if I pushed enough I would be very close to my 12hr goal. I would not beat it but I would be close. The 40km mark was also the start of town. Sure it was wet and most people had left the outskirts of town but there were a few wonderful supporters out there still cheering everyone on. The rain had stopped again or was just a sprinkle. I jogged up the main road on top of the world. I looked behind me and didn't see anyone close. I was not worried about being passed I just wanted to get a good finisher photo with no one else in the shot. Also to hear your name being called out individually would be good. To get to the finish you went past the run turn and up the road another 50m along a chute before doing a left turn and onto the red carpet. The crowds where built up most of the way around that cheering and congratulating you as you go. I was giving anyone a high five that wanted one. I turned the last turn and looked at the red carpet. Some guy ahead of me was hugging family and making his way in so I slowed a little to give him his moment as well. Then I jogged down to the finish. I heard my name. Well a bad pronunciation of my last name but still he did say Stefan Jankowski you are and IRONMAN!! I crossed the line and felt wonderful that I had done it.

Officially in 12:07:21. Sure it was a slow marathon but I couldn't have been happier. I left everything I had out there. I dent a little but did not break. I was greeted by two nice volunteers who gave me my medal and finisher towel then helped me into medical. I don’t know if I looked bad or what but they did seem very concerned if I was ok. Maybe its just what they have to do. I was walked in and weighed. I had lost 2kg which they said was good so I didn't need any special attention. 2kg for all that is not an easy weight loss program. Plus I think I put all that on with the food I have eaten today and maybe even a bit extra. From medical it was off to collect your black bag and finisher shirt. Hmm oh yeah Dee had my bag. I did see her at the finish line with my bike that she had collected. I was hoping that she had my bag of warm clothes with her as I was shivering. First thing I did was to grab a chocolate milk and sit down. Oh what a great feeling that was. I wrapped my towel around me and tried to get a little dry and warm.

I sat for a while then went to get food. They had all sorts of stuff on offer. Nothing fancy but good enough for what most people would be looking for. I did try to eat a few things but everything I had I didn't really feel like after a few bites. I guess my body was not ready for food. I got annoyed I was cold so I left to find Dee. I walked through the crowd of people waiting for their families to come out. No sign of Dee at all. Hmm cold and shivering I went to where I last saw her. Nope not there either. No phone so no way to contact her. Maybe she has gone home. Sure its only 700m up the road but I could hardly walk and I was so cold. It seemed like a long way away and if I get there and no one is home I have no key. So this is where I say to check a bag in so you can enjoy the medical tent a little. Maybe even have a phone in the bag so you can arrange what you are doing and how you are going before you leave the tent. I had nothing. The rain was lightly coming down again as I made my way home hoping that I would be warm soon. People probably thought that I was showing off as I walked with my medal on, number still on and towel covering as much of me as I could but I was too cold and wet to care. Lucky when I got back someone was home and the apartment was open. Dee had come back to get my bag and gone back down but we had taken different routes so had missed each other. I tried to call and tell her but she didn't take her phone. Good job. Well I tried. I grabbed warm clothes and sat on the shower floor or 5min to try to feel better.

When Dee got back a little while later I heard that Mike had finished. He had a foot issues but with some medical help he had been able to walk and then run his way through to the end. All we had to do now was watch Jacinda make it home. Well I was dry now and while I was still cold I was feeling slightly better. I wasn't sick I just didn't feel great. I had pains and while I wanted to eat and drink my body said no. A couple of hours later Jacinda made it back and we headed home. I had some warmed up pizza which finally went down nicely. We all chatted for a while and then went to bed. While the others said they didn't sleep well that night after the race it was the best sleep I had had in a week. I don’t think I moved at all during the night.

Today we were like the disabled bunch. We all had the ironman hobble going on. We had to walk down to buy our finisher gear so we did that early then headed to the hot baths just out of town. That made the body feel a little better. So with that I am done. Would I do another? I don’t know. I don’t think so but you should never say never. I think I like the 70.3 better. It’s still tough but doesn't bust you up as much. Sure I could slow down but then what goal do I have. I guess we will see.

I have had a lot of support from friends and family throughout this adventure. They don’t know it but they did help. Even when you are out there on your own and you feel you can’t go on. You know so many people have been cheering you on and telling you that you can do it so you don’t want to let them down. It drives you to just keep moving forward. There are way too many people to thank but I would like to. Hopefully I can get a chance to in person soon but if I do not and you are reading this know that your support has helped. I also have been lucky to find a great coach in John O’Connell of Summit Fitness Studio. He put me in a position to achieve all my goals. I know he cared how I was doing throughout the program and encouraged me to do my best. Sure I had moments of cursing his plan for the pain it was giving me but he knew what I needed and I trusted he wasn't sadistic. But honestly you need to learn to love a little pain if you want to do this and that is part of the training. To teach you to push beyond what you think you are capable of doing. I should also say a big thank you to Mike Mayo my weekend training partner and general IM guru for all the help he has given me. It’s a shame he had medical issues during the race but he will be back for another go around. Yes he is crazy like that. Also Adam Campbell my weekday and virgin IM buddy who has helped me from the start of this big adventure by talking me into doing an enticer a couple of years ago. Without him I would be sitting around being lazy. It’s a lot easier to get out and do something if someone else is there to drag you along, talk to about things and also be experiencing the same things. Now it’s your turn mate. I would like to see you smile your way through this one. With that I will end with….

Stefan Jankowski you are an IRONMAN!!!

Race week...

Race week has arrived. Tuesday morning I got up intending to do a swim before leaving for the airport. Unfortunately I had a lot of things to do around the house to prepare before leaving so I never got the swim done. It’s ok the weeks training was optional. About midday we packed the car and headed to our friends to collect their bikes before heading to the airport.

Check-in took some time. We had purchased 200kg of luggage for the 6 of us. All up 6 bags and 3 bikes not including any carry on totalling 170kg. Wow we have room for shopping still. The airport was the usual sitting around and waiting. The flight was on what seemed to be the smallest plane that could make the trip. There was not much leg room and the kid behind me was bouncing around and generally being a pain. Lucky it’s only a 3hr flight. In New Zealand we found our bags and bikes had all made it. Woohoo. We dragged our gear through customs. We must have looked funny having so much gear with us. The hotel was a couple of blocks away from the airport. While there was a bus that could have taken us to it we decided the walk would be better as the bus would go to all other hotels before ours so would take a couple of hours. We made it to the hotel about 12am and went straight to bed.

Wednesday morning I was up early. I have not been sleeping well for the last few days and that night was no different. For some reason I am awake at 2am and lay there looking at the back of my eye lids trying to get more sleep. Anyway we could pick up the campervan at 9am. This was good as we had to get to Taupo by before 4pm so we could get my bike back together and down to the Specialized tent to have the recall on the bars fixed. Well at the car hire place we are told that our camper came back damaged so they were getting another ready but it would take a good hour or so. Unfortunately we had to checkout within that time and it was setting us back a little. We decided the best plan was to get a lift back to the hotel. Grab all the gear and check out then come straight back to get the camper.

Back at the car hire place we had time so we found some grass and built my bike. This would save us some time at the other end. Soon the van was ready and we were off. We stopped to get some breakfast / early lunch at butterfly creek. It had some good food and farm attached so can walk around and pet the animals. We also had a quick stop at Tirau. It is a funny place that made a heap of things out of corrugated iron. Apart from that the trip down was not very exciting.

Around 4pm we made it to Taupo and headed directly to our apartment. We unpacked the van and headed to the Specialized tent. I don’t know why I made an appointment as they would not get to it until later that night anyway. It seemed like they had a lot of people just drop their bikes in without a booking. Its ok as long as it was done I did not mind. The rest of the day we did a little shopping and got the apartment sorted out.

Thursday I woke up early again and headed down to collect my bike. Everything looked good. I just needed to test it later in the day. After brining the bike back we all went down to the lake to have a swim. The water was cool but nothing too bad. After about 100m of swimming my body got used to the temperature. The water was very clear. Basically like swimming in a pool but with rocks and sand to look at. We headed out to a buoy to look for a sighting point for the outward leg. Once done we swam to a buoy on the return leg side and looked for a sighting point in that direction as well. Then we swam around a little and headed in.

After breakfast we headed to the expo to have a look around and do some ironman shopping. I collected myself a shirt, jumper and towel as they all had my name on it. While at the expo we had our wetsuit dipped as required before heading into registration. Rego was an easy process. Collect your race bag. This included your numbers, race tattoos, transition bags and other throw away items. Following registration I went and purchased a 3G hotspot from the local phone shop. So I was back online. Yay. At 1pm I went to the first timers seminar. It was good to see. Most of the talk was basic information and a lot of reminding you that if and when something goes wrong to not get upset and just keep going. After the talk I headed back to the apartment and relaxed for a little while. Later I took the bike out for a quick ride to make sure that it was running as it should be. With everything working as normal I checked that off the things to do. Back at the apartment I packed my black, blue and red race bags as well as my special needs bag. The black bag is for gear I will be wearing before the race and anything I want after the race. The blue is for bike riding gear and red is for the run gear. Special needs bags are also blue and red and is for anything you want on the ride or run but you might not get anything in this bag back if you don’t use it. Later that night we had to go to the race briefing. They basically went over everything that was in the race guide and a few important rules.

That night I took a sleeping tablet before heading to bed. It was the best sleep I have had in a week. So far today we have had breakfast and showered. We rechecked and compared our transition bags for the last time before heading down to check-in our bikes, helmets and bags. I got to have a walkthrough of the transition area. Now I am sitting around typing away just trying to not move much. Its not an easy day really. Just sitting here makes you think of the race ahead. You want to get out and get your mind off things but you also want to stay in and relax. The rain is coming down and there is a bit of wind. Lets hope that the wind goes away and the rain eases up.

Training is over

That's it. All the training is done. Nothing more to do but race now. For the last couple of weeks the training level has dropped. Not as much as I thought it would but it has. This week I get to do whatever I feel I would like. While I do have a plan it was the maximum. Its funny being told not to do more than whats on the plan but feel free to do less. That's a nice change of pace.

I had some frustrating news last week. My bike has a recall on the bars. It seems that a bolt can break off and you could fall on your head while riding. While it is nice that they recalled the bikes for my safety it would be good if Specialized could actually have a fix for the problem so I can get it fixed before the race. So last week I spent time making calls to them and bike shops to see what they can do. It looks like the early recommended fix was to replace all of the bars. This would take 3 weeks to get stock and the shop that replaces it for you would not be able to do it for free as Specialized were not refunding enough money to them for it. Nice work if you can get away with it but a pain to the customer that doesn't have the time or want to spend more money.

Luckily Specialized NZ seems to have been able to help find a solution and will be doing replacement of the faulty part in Taupo this week before the race. I have booked my bike in so hopefully if everything goes well I will be up and running again by Wednesday night. All up it might work out but was stress for a while that I really didn't need.

We have packed all our bikes and bags ready to fly out tomorrow. John my summit fitness coach has prepped me as good as he could and called to give me the final bit of encouragement. Anything I am now lacking is my own fault if I missed a session or two. So lets hope I did enough. I am sure before I leave I will look over all my gear once again and make sure it has been checked off. Then we hope and pray everything gets to NZ undamaged and I have not forgotten anything.

While I should be excited I am not really feeling anything yet. I keep getting asked am I excited but really no. Not excited, worried or any real feelings. I guess I will be when I actually get into town and feel the atmosphere of the event but for now I don't really think about it. I have had a lot of support from friends all over the world and family which has been great. I know its made some of the harder and longer weeks a lot more bearable. I hope to give a good showing for them as well as many will be following me (No. 592) on the ironman website.

Well here goes......

23 days to go

Well its getting close now. Lots of emails from IM NZ with schedules and information guides. Makes it really seem like its about to happen and well it is. In less than 3 weeks I will be in NZ hopefully enjoying the atmosphere of the big event. But before we look too far ahead I guess I should look back over the weekend.

Well Saturdays last long training session was where I left off. So the plan was 2.5km swim, 90min break, 150km ride, 90min break and then 20km run. John (the coach) wanted us to have a break in-between legs so we didn't smash ourselves to much. Mike and I decided to skip the first 90min break as it would get us out on the road early and avoid the heat if the sun came out. So Mike had organised to gain access to one of the training pools in the area early before any of the squads had started. I had to get up about 4:15am to be at the pool with my bike and gear by 5am. We started about on time. It was a good swim. No one around to have to worry about. Only issue was its a 25m pool so 100 laps. Boring... But lucky the watch did all the counting and I just thought about life outside of the pool. With that over we dried off and got on the bike. For the first 20km it all went as planned. Nothing special. I was keeping to my pace I wanted and seemed to be fueling well. Then I hit something and got a flat. No big deal but I was behind Mike so he didn't know that I had stopped. Its all good I will meet him at home after lap one was done. I changed the tube making sure I had removed the cause of the puncture and thought I was good to go. As I was packing up my rubbish I hear the rear leaking again. This time it sounded like the valve. It was pretty icy from being filled from the cylinder so maybe the valve was stuck. Not wanting to risk my last cylinder I thought I better just swap the tube again. Once again I made sure there was nothing sharp inside the tyre and put the tube in. This time it was good but what a waist of time. I wasn't happy. I packed up and took off. As I was riding I could not see Mike anywhere so I kept thinking he was just completing the lap. Thats ok with me as I will be riding on my own in the race so I have to keep getting used to it.

I completed the first lap and went to Mikes place where I was told my refill drink bottles would be. Hmm no one home. I decided I needed to get a tube and air for the last 60kms anyway so I would go home. At home grab what I need and decide to have a bathroom break while I am here. Next thing I know Dee walks through the door calling for me and wondering where I have been. I said just riding like I told her. Supposedly Mike turned around to find me and couldn't so called the girls to come and look for me. They drove the course but had not found me. I had obviously beat them home. I don't know how Mike and I missed each other but anyway.

When Mike made it back a short time later we started on a slightly modified and shorter second lap. It was a little hilly and tough but nothing crazy. Finishing that I went home to have my 90min rest. I did suggest we take longer as it was now the middle of the day and the heat was starting to pick up but Mike said he liked pain so I went with it.

90min later we were running. We split the run into 3 loops. A 10km and two 5km loops. This was to simulate the drinks stops and helped not have to carry much. The first 10 went pretty good. We had some nice places where the breeze would hit and cool you down nicely. Unfortunately the 5km loops didn't have many spots like this so it got hot. The last lap was going to be a walk / run effort due to the heat but I was happy that I was able to push myself to just keep going. It wasn't fast or pretty but I got through it without stopping. I took it as a mind game and I had won that round. There will be more like that to come soon and I know this was an easy battle compared to what I will have.

The rest of the day I just sat around the house trying to recover. I probably wasn't the most fun person to be around that night. Sunday was a rest day so that was good then the this week is recovery week.

So far this week I have not felt well. I don't know what it is but I train lightly and feel like I have been hit by a truck. So much so I have missed some sessions to help recover. We will see how the rest of the week goes and I hope its not something more than just the body recovering.

The last build

Well I am midway through the final build session. It has not been easy but maybe I am getting used to it. So whats been happening.

The weekend sessions have been slowly getting longer. I have been lucky that I have a lot of holiday time owing as I have taken a couple of Fridays off work to train. Its a strange thing to take a day off and all you do is train. I would not say that the most fun thing I can think doing when not at work. But it does give me a chance to break up the two long weekend sessions with a Saturday rest day.

The rest week was tougher than it should have been. Not because of the training but it was the time I had to do it. We had a few work visitors in from the US so I was helping show them around. So that means getting up before 5am so I can get my training done before work. I can't even bring myself to saying the time as it hurts to think about it. When you see a 4 as the first number of the time it makes it so much harder to drag yourself out of bed. I was lucky it was an easy week though or I would have missed a lot of things. On the bright side of the week it was good to meet a catch up with the guys while they were out here. Always fun times.

Last week was the first week of the final build sessions. Its a two week block. I once again had the Friday off to do the 180km ride. I did a two lap course so I was able to stop at home and refill the bike with food and drink. It was painful but better than expected. I didn't try to push the speed too much so I had energy to complete the ride. I had learn that from the 160km ride a few weeks before where I had blistering speed at the start but from the 145km mark I was in pain and falling apart. So this ride was better. Sure it hurt still and the head wind coming back home the last 30kms was not pleasant but I did not spit the dummy.

The Sunday run was my longest I had dine yet. 25km of running and it was not that bad. I felt tired and the legs where heavy at the end but I could of kept going if needed. We were a little lucky that the sun was hidden by clouds for most of the run which kept the heat away. This week will be the last hard week before the big race and I have one long weekend brick session to do. 2.5km swim, 150km ride and 20km run. I know it is going to be a long hard day but I guess it has to be done.

Starting the push

So with the 70.3 over I was on a plane to Manila. I had two weeks of work to do. I took all my running gear and thought that I would make good use of the gym and pool. Also there are some that run over there so I intended to join them now and then.

Well the plan didn't go as hoped. I ate and drank way more than I needed and didn't train anywhere near enough. I did have a few swims and I went to the gym once but I wouldn't say I did much. So while the trip was really fun and productive I wouldn't say it helped my ironman goal. One thing I did unfortunately do is hurt my rib. I was wake boarding on the weekend I was there and came off what must have been heavily. It hurt a little that night and I found it hard to sleep. I spent the next week in Manila feeling sore. I got an xray the day I got back and they could not determine what I had done. Either way nothing bad was still there and they couldn't do anything so I just had to cope with it until it healed.

The second day back home I was back on the bike. Boy it was hard work. The rib made my chest hurt. I struggled but got through it. The next week was much the same as every other week with the added enjoyment of rib pain. Then came Christmas with all the eating and celebrating that goes along with it. I felt like I had celebrated way to much and needed to do more training. The last Sunday of the year and the Summit IM squad (that's what I will call the small group of us including the coach) decided to do a solid brisk session. 2km swim, 4hr ride and 10km run. Sounded easy enough on paper. Problem is whats on paper is not always as easy as it looks. So the 2km swim in the ocean became 2.4km's. Thats not really an issue. I got through it feeling good. The bike started well enough. We were all together riding along and then we hit bald hill. This is about the time I decided that I am no a hill climber. About half way up I was looking for lower gears. Unfortunately there was no more. I spat the dummy and threw it down the road. My heart was going at what felt like 300bpm and my legs were burning. You can't stop as there is no lane off to the side of the road so you have to just keep going. Mike and John had left me far behind. Adam who started off slow was catching me and by the time we hit the first flat spot at the top he past me asking in his usual happy voice how I was. Well I just got off as soon as I could and laid down. I had some quality time crying to myself as we were only 40min into the ride. How could I continue on when I knew I had so long and so many other hills to go. Anyway I got back on and caught up with Adam.

We rode the rest of the two hours out like we had to. Every little rise was a struggle from there on and I don't want to talk about the other real hills you get to ride up in the national park. But either way we made the 2hr mark and turned around. The return ride was uneventful and painful. Back at the car we packed the bikes away and started to run. The sun which had been hidden away for most of the morning had decided to come out and the heat was picking up. I ran my own pace and made it the 10kms that I had to. None of that was fun but I guess it was needed. After the run I got straight back in the water and cooled off before heading home. There is talk of doing it again and I am happy to as long as we don't have to deal with that hill.

Well that's been about the most interesting part of the training. The rib is slowly getting better. I don't feel the pain much anymore just now and then when I move in a way it doesn't want me to. I have now seen the rest of the plan until IM. It looks hard. I know I need to do it and am worried a little as I only see 8 training weeks including the race week. While it will be good to get it done I don't know if I am ready. Guess we will see.

Draft plan