A Different Kind of Ironman.....

It has almost been 2 weeks since I took my place on the start line of the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii yet in many ways it feels like it could have only just been yesterday!

I have spent the last 2 weeks running over the last few months in mind, trying to figure out if the decisions I made were the right ones but as a good friend said I can't change the past - I can only move forward with the future. So whether or not my decision to continue training for Kona and lining up for it were the right ones I can't change it but I can learn from it - and so the single most important lesson learned was - you can't beat physiology - fact!

The last week has therefore been filled up with lots of waiting as I attempted to find the answer to fixing my physiology. It would be fair to say that for the majority of my time out on the marathon course in Kona one thought kept popping into my head - I never ever want to put myself through this again - In my mind I was hanging up my swim cap, selling everything Ironman related and going into retirement! However as the dust settled and I began to gain a little more perspective I pondered the statement 'you are only as good as your last race' and with that came the thought - was that the result I would want to go out on - I know that I can do better than that. So as I sat chatting to my Haematologist on Monday I quantified that statement - I never want to do an Ironman again with a haemoglobin of 80 - fact number 2!

And so together with my Haematologist we formed a 'race plan' for a different kind of Ironman - a Haemoglobin Man! The goal is a Haemoglobin count of 145 in a finish time of 8 weeks! Achieving that means I need to suppress my immune system for the 8 week period with some high powered drugs. At the moment my immune system is attacking my red cells because it is a little confused - my immune system seems to think my red blood cells are dangerous and so it is breaking them down - the only way to kick it out of it's confusion is to try and knock my immune system out! So at the end of the 8 weeks of super drugs my immune system should be back to being its friendly old self and my little red cells will be plentiful! Hard to imagine what I will feel like with a haemoglobin count of 145!!!

Training wise I'm on a bit of an enforced break for a week or two while the dosing of the super drugs are worked out based on how I respond to them! After that I can train when I want for how long I want when I feel that I want to!!! So that should make for an interesting few weeks!! Quite a few people have come up with some ideas for me to focus on training wise during that time - mostly technique stuff and gym work (groan) so we shall see what the next few weeks brings!

I made the decision mid week to pull out of the Tauranga Half Ironman which is an event I absolutely love! However knowing myself I felt that having an event looming just a week after finishing my 'Haemoglobin Man' would probably result in me trying to train more than I'm able to during the 'Haemoglobin Man' which would most likely affect my overall finish time! Having just failed to come anything close to the finish time I wanted in Kona I decided a repeat performance in my Haemoglobin Man or the Tauranga half Ironman would not be cool! So my focus this season is going to be Ironman New Zealand and getting the result I want on the finish line......Roar!

Once again as I have slowly filtered out the news of my Haemoglobin Man to my family and friends I've had so many warm fuzzies sent my way by phone, text and email that it has at times been pretty overwhelming! So 'Big Up Thanks' to all those people - you know who you are - for continuing to support and believe in me and instill the notion that if anyone can - I can!

Ironman World Championships 2010 - Race Report

Here is my Ironman World Championship 2010 Race Report........

Event - Ironman World Champs 2010

Distance - Swim 3.8km, Cycle 180km, Run 42.2km

Time - 11 hours 26 minutes (ouch!)

Well it has been quite a few years since I have been out on an Ironman course for more than 11 hours and I think it would be fair to say that out of the 7 Ironman races I have lined up for this day hurt like no other had ever before. Getting to the start line had been a bit of a mission during race week after my haemoglobin returned a result of 103 which meant that I didn't meet the 110 limit set by my haemotologist to race. I was reviewed by the race medical director early in the week and got the seal of approval to start which having spent the last 8 weeks frantically trying grow some haemoglobin was good news - I at least wanted the opportunity to give it a crack.

I was pretty nervous and I think that had shown during the race week preparations - I knew that my body could not cope with the effort of a half Ironman with a haemoglobin of 90 following the big DNF at the Capricorn Half Ironman and subsequent diagnosis of weird type of anaemia that munched up my red blood cells - so I was unsure what 103 would mean for an Ironman and I hoped that it would be enough to achieve what I wanted to.

Over the last few weeks I had found that some days I woke up and felt near human and then other days I felt nauseous and sluggish - generally the near human days resulted in a good days training and the latter generally meant a not so good day - so when I opened my eyes to a big wave of nausea on race morning I was a little apprehensive. I told myself it was just nerves and set about my usual race morning routines and made my way down to the start line.

This year I had decided to be a little bolder in the swim and get closer up the front and have a crack at swimming in the mosh pit. The cannon fired and off I went surrounded by an army of people kicking and punching - I kept my head low to avoid any full face hits and managed to catch onto the tail end of a group - the pace was hot and by the time we were approaching the turn I knew I was in trouble so as the group began to make the turn around the boat I swam straight ahead to grab onto a life surfies board which I promptly vomited over - poor guy didn't sign up for that I'm sure! I turned my back to the sea of swimmers hurtling around the boat and focused on trying to stay calm - my body had developed this irritating mechanism of vomiting whenever the intensity I was working at was too hard for it cope with so I knew that I needed to take it down a fair few notches and find a pace that it could cope with.

I rested for around 10 minutes and the surf lifesaver had called over a couple of other boardies during this time who were all giving me some serious encouragement to keep on going so I turned around to face the oncoming swimmers and waited for a pack with a decent number in that I could get on the back of. By now my watch was flashing 40 minutes at me so I knew that I would be lucky to make it out of the water in a decent time but to be honest all I wanted to do was make it out in one piece. Finally I managed to hop on the back of a pack and cruised the second half of the swim back to shore - the effort was really easy and by the time I hit the exit steps I felt as though I had done enough to recover myself enough to get on with the bike.

Once through the maze of transition I was out on my bike and could start to get some fluids and fuel in - I made short work of the dog leg around time and before I knew it I was out on the Queen K and into the winds. I steadily worked my way up the field balancing the effort and intensity around how I felt physically. The climb up to the Hawi turnaround was pretty gusty and once at the top of the climb I was beginning to feel a little cooked and my body began to resort to the afore mentioned coping strategy! Thankfully I was now taking on the descent which meant that I could cruise down the hills at a pretty decent speed without much effort - most of the effort was spent trying to stabilise my bike in the wind rather than on the pace.

Once back on the Queen K highway and inside the last 60km of the bike I focused on trying to keep down as much fluid as possible and staying as cool as possible which meant a pick up of at least 2 water bottles at each aid station - one to consume and one to throw over my head. There was tailwind for the last 15-20km so again I could keep the effort down for a decent speed. I hit transition in a total race time of 7 hours which I was pretty happy with considering I had crossed the intensity line a fair few times over the day so far - I figured with a decent run split the race was still salvageable and I knew from my experience at Ironman New Zealand this year that a decent run split can make all the difference.

I seemed to find my running legs pretty quickly which was quite surprising - Elaine and Mags my Kona support crew were about 1.5km into the run course and I gave them a wave and a smile to let them know I was doing OK - I felt good - hungry but good. Next check in was with swim coach Ally B about 750 metres later - she asked if I was feeling OK and I gave her the Big Island hang loose sign to tell her I was. I then began to make my way up Alii Drive and probably 2km after giving the hang loose sign I was beginning to feel really rather weird!!

I took in an energy gel which my body quickly ejected, attempted some fluids which elicited a similar response and then my vision began to get a little blurry. Thankfully I was approaching an aid station so once again I pulled off to the side to try and work out what I needed to do to get through the next 36km of the marathon - the reality was I had no idea. In training I had managed to resurrect myself with full sugar coke so I asked a volunteer for some coke, emptied out my fuel belt bottle of electrolyte and replaced them with the coke. I had begun to get the shakes and was finding it hard to catch my breath so I walked out of the aid station and tried to build the pace into a jog. After what seemed like forever my legs were moving in a slow running pace and although I wasn't managing to keep much of the coke down I felt like I was getting something in. I could only watch the fast feet of runners passing me by - I couldn't match the pace nor did I have the energy to try.

Running back into town I was beginning to get a little emotional - I still had 28kms to go and was barely running - as I turned the corner out of Alii Drive I spotted Ally B and the kiwi team manager Janette - suddenly tears were streaming down my face and it took every bit of strength not to sit down next to them and call it a day. Ally B told me I looked awesome and although I knew she was just being kind - I'm sure as a snivelling wreck I looked anything but - I told myself to keep it together. I thought back to the moment I stopped my bike in the Capricorn Half Ironman and called it a day - that initial few seconds of relief that the agony was over before the hours and days of feeling like a complete failure set in - I was not about to go through that again so however long it took my body to get through this day is was making it to the finish line. Just before hitting the Queen K I saw Elaine and Mags on the sidelines - I slowed my pace to a walk and told Elaine that I was in trouble but that I was finishing no matter how long it took - we had a quick hug and then I began to build the pace again to a slow run.

The Queen K highway was hot and humid - I hadn't eaten an energy gel for well over 90 minutes so I decided to try get one into me before hitting the solar panel lined energy lab because I knew if it was hot on the highway it was going to be even hotter in there. I was managing to hold onto most of my coke so figured my body might not notice me sneaking in an energy gel but I was wrong. So I hit the 6km stretch through the energy lab with the fuel tank empty and by the time I had got 2kms in I was beginning to weave all over the road and other runners were beginning to start asking me if I was OK - I made the decision to slow my pace even more to a walk until I was out of the energy lab - I have never walked during any event before so it was pretty soul destroying to have to resort to it but on reflection it was probably the best decision I made all day. At a walking pace I was able to get a gel in and drink both coke and electrolyte so by the time I got out of the energy lab I had managed to fuel up a little for run home.

As I began to build myself back to something that resembled a run I kept thinking of the finish line - I had been out on the marathon course for over 4 hours which felt like an eternity - running is usually what I love about an Ironman event and where I feel most at home but today i was fighting for every km and I felt like an alien in unfamiliar territory. I decided it was important to still have some kind of a goal to keep me moving so I told myself I had to try get to the finish line in under 11hours 30minutes which given the pace I was going I felt would be achievable.

Once back in town I was on track and the crowds were going mental - to them it didn't matter what time I was running down the finishers chute in - they were just happy and excited that I had made it - and so was I!! I crossed in 11 hours 26 minutes and I don't think I will be forgetting any one of those hours or minutes for quite some time.

As I came over the line I was quickly bundled into medical - I was dehydrated but also having a bit of trouble catching my breath. They pulled off some blood to test my haemoglobin and it came back at 80 which put everyone into a spin for about 30 minutes - I figured that was probably why I was struggling to slow my breathing down! I got given a couple of litres of intravenous fluid and started to feel a bit more perky. Eventually I was allowed out of the tent and into the care of Elaine and Mags who fed me full sugar coke and salted chippies along the walk back to the condo!

So BIG UP Thank You's go to Elaine & Mags for being my Kona support crew, my lovely swim coach Ally Boggs who has spent the last 3 weeks looking after me and keeping me positive, Neil Stafford who with his awesome company Direct Organics have kept me in a plentiful supply of fruit and veges for the last 3 months, Julia and Andy Flaherty for sponsoring me my swim skin - even if I did vomit on it..... My nutritionist Alison Rainbow, Physio Dene Coleman and last but by no means least Tri Coach Tony for his efforts to get the best out of me and my training programme on not very many haemoglobin cells!

Big Thanks to all of YOU sat reading this for the support and encouragement you have given me, particularly over the last 8 weeks, without you guys I wouldn't even have made it to the start line!

So now I have 5 days to relax with Mags and Elaine in Honolulu before returning home and catching up with my Haemotologist to figure out the best way of growing back my haemoglobin!

In Limbo........

Week 26 of my build up has flown by and it has felt a bit like being in limbo! I'm now just a week out from race day so the training volume has been down a little but some of the sessions have still had a decent snap in them! At times I have to admit to feeling a little cheated by my programme - you know that race day is close so things will be easing off but then you get a big kick in the pants from a hard interval session and you begin to wonder if the taper will ever come! Finally I feel like it has arrived.....a complete day off training today which has been a bit of a novelty and the perfect excuse to get out of town and escape the hype of downtown!

Stats for the week placed me out swimming 14kms, cycling 250kms and running 40kms! There are now countless athletes out on the course - Alii Drive is packed with cyclists and runners - the Queen K is heaving with bike bling and some very very serious age group athletes! Friendliness factor is now close to zero - no smiling or waving from the majority - just a cursory glance as they check you out to see if you look like you have got what it takes! Belinda and I have started to play a game called 'your age group' - if someone is looking smoking hot in training we try to beat the other in assigning them to their age group - today on our drive out to the beach it was getting pretty exhausting - every second sentence was 'your age group'.....lots of girls looking smoking hot!

I've made it out to the Ironman buoy twice more since my first visit! I haven't seen any dolphins this year so it was awesome to finally get to see them on Saturday morning! Le Ann and I were taking a little rest at the 3km mark when a kayaker shouted 'dolphins'....there was a large pod right underneath us and then some riding out on the surface doing a few tricks! It was only when my fingers and toes started to go numb and the shivering started that I realised how long we had been watching them for! Consequently the last 1km back into the pier was a little bit slow!

This week I've really had to firm up my race plan and think tactically. I'm still not 100% sure on what my race outfit is going to be! Slight trauma this week discovering that my swimskin is now not race legal thanks to some recent changes made to the rules! The swim here in Kona is non wetsuit because the water temp is too high but it is legal to wear a swimskin over your race gear. The swimskins now have to contain no rubberised material so Blue Seventy and TYR seem to be the only companies that have managed to get something out that complies with the new rulings in time. Consequently the skins have a price to match $250-350 US dollars (ouch) and they are in short supply.......hard to justify spending so much money on something that you will wear for one race only. I have a few options open to me - I could just swim in togs or buy a super tight tri suit without pockets to chuck on top of my tri gear - swim coach Ally B has a speedo fast skin which is lycra and legal so I'm trialling that tomorrow in the pool to see if it fits snuggley enough over my tri gear to get the desired effect - or I could try and get my hands on either brand of swim skin available at the expo.......second ouch!

Race week is going to busy with our Team meeting, Parade of Nations, Race Brief, Gear check in etc so I will keep you all a bit more up to date with my movements as race day begins to descend..... 6 sleeps and counting!!