Event -Ironman New Zealand
Date - 6th March 2010
Distance -3.8km Swim, 180km Cycle, 42.2km Run
Finish - 10 hours 23 minutes 53 seconds
Age Group Position - 1st
My build up to Ironman New Zealand this year had been like no other! I had 8 short sharp weeks to try and claw back the form and fitness I had enjoyed prior to Kona that seemed to have been robbed from underneath my nose thanks to an injury riddled October, November and December! After a dissapointing start to the year at the Port of Tauranga half ironman where I had limped (quite literally) to a 3rd place age group finish, I spent the following 8 weeks pushing out the biggest training weeks of my life to ensure that I was going into this race in the best physical and mental shape possible!
Race day began like any other with the dulcid tones of my alarm clock ringing out at 0425. I had managed to earn myself a solid 7 hour sleep so bounced out of bed feeling energised and ready for the challenges ahead. The members of my support crew 'lucky' enough to be staying with me in Taupo were perhaps not quite so bouncey at that hour of the morning but nonetheless as I ate my way through a mountain of porridge and reviewed my race plan I was surrounded by a calming and positive atmosphere in Team Whelan HQ! As we drove into town my most pressing concern was how the lake 'looked'......that proved difficult to assess in the darkness of the early hours of the morning.....but I was relieved to see that it looked pretty flat and the Hawaiin sized waves and swells I had body surfed my way through on Thursday had dissapeared! Once down at the race start I went through the usual motions of body marking, setting up my bike and then escaping the craziness of transition to do my land warm up before getting into the water and lining up on the start line.
This year I have to admit to being a little excited about the swim segment of the race.....I never thought that would come out of my mouth as the swim is by far my weakest discipline and the one thing I struggle with the most! I've spent the last 3 months using a designated swim coach, Ally Boggs at the Swim Clinic, so that I could really focus on getting out of the water quicker over the Ironman distance. My swim times in the pool have improved significantly in just 3 months and Ally has worked hard on improving both my technique but also my own confidence in my swimming ability. I had yet to test out how this translated to a race situation in the open water so when the canon fired to signal the start of the race I figured game on!
I had decided to start further towards the front of the swim than usual this year and instantly regretted my new found boldness as I got kicked and punched from all directions for the first half of the swim. I struggled to find anything resembling clear water so had no other option than to tough it out in the rough and tumble of a large pack. Thankfully by the turn around things had started to settle down a little and I began to find a comfortable rhythm. As the swim exit came into view I felt confident that I must have knocked something off my usual Ironman swim time because my legs were really beginning to hurt and as I stood to run out of the water I felt like I had left my legs in the lake and someone had replaced them with jelly! I quickly gave my watch a glance as I began the run up to transition whilst peeling off my wetsuit! I had knocked 3 minutes off my swim time and registered a swim split of 1.07 - game on indeed!
Onto my bike and I was feeling positive about my start to the day. I worked quickly to make my way up the field using the tail wind to my advantage on the way out to the turn around on lap 1. I knew having averaged 40km/hr for the first 45km segment that the return 45km back in town was not going to be easy. The wind was really beginning to pick up and my legs were screaming for a break from the unrelenting wall of wind - I decided to push on at a solid pace figuring that the break would come at the start of the second lap when the wind would theoretically be behind me again. Unfortunately the wind had other plans and as I headed out on lap 2 the beautiful tail wind was gone and had been replaced by gusting gale force winds that seemed to slam you from all directions. The last 90km therefore simply became a case of head down and grinding it out.
As I began to fatigue my mind started to play tricks on me and I became convinced that there were at least 10 other athletes in my age group ahead of me and that my dreams of qualifying for Kona once again were not going to be realised this year. I came off my bike in 5hours 33 minutes and headed into transition with mixed feelings. I couldn't help but wonder if after such a brutal bike my legs were going to be able to rise to the challenge of recording a decent run split. My race plan was to race a conservative first 21km however as I exited transition and counted 3 other athletes in my age group returning from the 2.5km dog leg through town I knew that I needed to start out at a solid pace and close the gap - I was after all in 4th and therefore just one place away from a Kona slot with no clue as to who was behind me and more importantly how far behind me they were.
Thankfully my legs embraced the new race plan and came to the party with a blistering first 12km. I moved into 3rd place at the 13km mark and by 17km had managed to get myself into second. As I ran past my support crew at the 21km mark they gave me a reassuring '2' sign to confirm my position. The run back out to the airport on lap 2 was hard into the wind and I focused on my goal of qualifying for Kona. As I hit the 32km marker and the turnaround I could see that the distance between myself and 1st place had reduced considerably - unbeknown to me I had managed to close down a 7 minute gap between km 21 and km 32. With first place now tangeable I decided to give the last 10km everything I had left and at km 35 I moved into first place. For the next 7km I ran as hard as I could, determined to cling onto my position.
My support crew gave me a phenomenal welcome down the finishers chute but this year rather than take my time to hit some high fives on the way past I had one thing in sight - the finish line! I had spent the last 7km not daring to peer over my shoulder convinced that someone was sat on my shoulder waiting to out sprint me at the finishers chute for age group honours! I crossed the line registering a 3hour 36minute marathon split and a total finish time of 10hours 23minutes 53 seconds. That placed me at the top of my age group and as the 13th female overall to cross the line inclusive of pros.....2 of which I managed to sneak ahead of!
There simply aren't the words to describe what crossing the finishing line this year felt like. However getting to the finish line has been a team effort so Thank you all very much for your support to get me there! Special mention to my Mum Polly - my biggest supporter - who travelled across the world to watch me race and who always believes in me - whatever the goal!
Until next time..............................
Race day began like any other with the dulcid tones of my alarm clock ringing out at 0425. I had managed to earn myself a solid 7 hour sleep so bounced out of bed feeling energised and ready for the challenges ahead. The members of my support crew 'lucky' enough to be staying with me in Taupo were perhaps not quite so bouncey at that hour of the morning but nonetheless as I ate my way through a mountain of porridge and reviewed my race plan I was surrounded by a calming and positive atmosphere in Team Whelan HQ! As we drove into town my most pressing concern was how the lake 'looked'......that proved difficult to assess in the darkness of the early hours of the morning.....but I was relieved to see that it looked pretty flat and the Hawaiin sized waves and swells I had body surfed my way through on Thursday had dissapeared! Once down at the race start I went through the usual motions of body marking, setting up my bike and then escaping the craziness of transition to do my land warm up before getting into the water and lining up on the start line.
This year I have to admit to being a little excited about the swim segment of the race.....I never thought that would come out of my mouth as the swim is by far my weakest discipline and the one thing I struggle with the most! I've spent the last 3 months using a designated swim coach, Ally Boggs at the Swim Clinic, so that I could really focus on getting out of the water quicker over the Ironman distance. My swim times in the pool have improved significantly in just 3 months and Ally has worked hard on improving both my technique but also my own confidence in my swimming ability. I had yet to test out how this translated to a race situation in the open water so when the canon fired to signal the start of the race I figured game on!
I had decided to start further towards the front of the swim than usual this year and instantly regretted my new found boldness as I got kicked and punched from all directions for the first half of the swim. I struggled to find anything resembling clear water so had no other option than to tough it out in the rough and tumble of a large pack. Thankfully by the turn around things had started to settle down a little and I began to find a comfortable rhythm. As the swim exit came into view I felt confident that I must have knocked something off my usual Ironman swim time because my legs were really beginning to hurt and as I stood to run out of the water I felt like I had left my legs in the lake and someone had replaced them with jelly! I quickly gave my watch a glance as I began the run up to transition whilst peeling off my wetsuit! I had knocked 3 minutes off my swim time and registered a swim split of 1.07 - game on indeed!
Onto my bike and I was feeling positive about my start to the day. I worked quickly to make my way up the field using the tail wind to my advantage on the way out to the turn around on lap 1. I knew having averaged 40km/hr for the first 45km segment that the return 45km back in town was not going to be easy. The wind was really beginning to pick up and my legs were screaming for a break from the unrelenting wall of wind - I decided to push on at a solid pace figuring that the break would come at the start of the second lap when the wind would theoretically be behind me again. Unfortunately the wind had other plans and as I headed out on lap 2 the beautiful tail wind was gone and had been replaced by gusting gale force winds that seemed to slam you from all directions. The last 90km therefore simply became a case of head down and grinding it out.
As I began to fatigue my mind started to play tricks on me and I became convinced that there were at least 10 other athletes in my age group ahead of me and that my dreams of qualifying for Kona once again were not going to be realised this year. I came off my bike in 5hours 33 minutes and headed into transition with mixed feelings. I couldn't help but wonder if after such a brutal bike my legs were going to be able to rise to the challenge of recording a decent run split. My race plan was to race a conservative first 21km however as I exited transition and counted 3 other athletes in my age group returning from the 2.5km dog leg through town I knew that I needed to start out at a solid pace and close the gap - I was after all in 4th and therefore just one place away from a Kona slot with no clue as to who was behind me and more importantly how far behind me they were.
Thankfully my legs embraced the new race plan and came to the party with a blistering first 12km. I moved into 3rd place at the 13km mark and by 17km had managed to get myself into second. As I ran past my support crew at the 21km mark they gave me a reassuring '2' sign to confirm my position. The run back out to the airport on lap 2 was hard into the wind and I focused on my goal of qualifying for Kona. As I hit the 32km marker and the turnaround I could see that the distance between myself and 1st place had reduced considerably - unbeknown to me I had managed to close down a 7 minute gap between km 21 and km 32. With first place now tangeable I decided to give the last 10km everything I had left and at km 35 I moved into first place. For the next 7km I ran as hard as I could, determined to cling onto my position.
My support crew gave me a phenomenal welcome down the finishers chute but this year rather than take my time to hit some high fives on the way past I had one thing in sight - the finish line! I had spent the last 7km not daring to peer over my shoulder convinced that someone was sat on my shoulder waiting to out sprint me at the finishers chute for age group honours! I crossed the line registering a 3hour 36minute marathon split and a total finish time of 10hours 23minutes 53 seconds. That placed me at the top of my age group and as the 13th female overall to cross the line inclusive of pros.....2 of which I managed to sneak ahead of!
There simply aren't the words to describe what crossing the finishing line this year felt like. However getting to the finish line has been a team effort so Thank you all very much for your support to get me there! Special mention to my Mum Polly - my biggest supporter - who travelled across the world to watch me race and who always believes in me - whatever the goal!
Until next time..............................
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