Well the end of a very long triathlon season has come to an end and a successful end at that.
Saturday the 7th of March saw the running of the 25th Anniversary of Ironman New Zealand and my second crack at the Ironman distance. After an rollacoaster 2008 which had some awsome training in Belgium and Holland, sickness at World Champs in Holland and a total mental shutdown at Tauranga Half Ironman I was keen to have a good race. I went in with the goal of qualifying for the World Ironman Championships in Hawaii later in the year and what came out of it was pretty cool.
Race day dawned overcast and damp, but conditions were calm which made Lake Taupo perfect for the 3.8km Swim. Unfortunately I did not have as good a swim as I could, getting caught up in the washing machine that is the ironman swim i struggled for a consistent rhythm. I exited in 57minutes about 2 minutes slower than what is was capable of. As soon as i exited the water I felt good and had a spring in my step that would set the tone for the day. Out on the 180km bike and onto the Broadlands I quickly got into my work and spent the next 30km riding hard to catch the top age group bunch. I joined this group around 30km and quickly moved to the front where I set pace along with another age group rider until the bottom of the climb at around 70km.
By 90km I was feeling good and riding well so after picking up my special needs of Enduro Booster and Nuun Caffeine Electrolytes put the foot down a little more and with another athlete Tony O'Hagan put some distance on the chasing group of age groupers. The thing i didn't realise at this time was we had ridin through the age group field and were first amateur athletes overall. I did not click on this until the final turn at Reparoa. On the return home I stepped up the pace again and doing long but legal turns with Tony O'Hagan who also rode really well, put more time into the chasing amateur's.
By the time I hit t2 back in Taupo I had riden 4:55 (fastest amateur split and something like 12th overall) 3km into the run and into my stride I was nearly 4 minutes up on the next amateur athlete so was set to run the Marathon a hunted man. I really ran well for the first half picking up a number of pro athletes (apparently getting as high as 11th overall) and by 22km had 6 minutes on the next age grouper. The feeling of running thru town as the first age grouper was one of the best feelings ever with thousands of people lining the roads, I have to say the support that I had on the course was awsome. Unfortunately my run strength started to fade and at 30km lost the amateur lead to Craig Kirkwood (a Commonwealth games and World Champs Marathon representative). Still having a big lead in my respective age group this did not phase me and I made my way methodically back into town. The last 7 - 8km was the hardest I have ever experienced and had to go to a very dark place, but with plenty of coke, leppin squeezy and some good old caffeine in the form of Powergels I got there to become an ironman 'again'.
Finishing in a time of 9hr 18 minutes, 1st in 25 - 29 age group, 19th overall (including pro athletes) in a international ironman event in only my 2nd year in the sport was pretty cool. To go with that I also booked a spot at Kona (World Ironman Champs) in October, this is the super bowl of ironman triathlon and one of the biggest sporting events in the world so to be going there after only a shade over two years in the sport is very exciting. As For now though i have a few weeks rest to look forward to before even thinking about training again. Oh yeah that means eating heaps, sleeping in and doing those things that you don't have time for during the season.
Before i sign out I would like to thank a number of people for the support you have given me over the last year, without you i would not have got the experience that i did overseas last year and also not been able to race like i did at Ironman. So thanks Rozz and Merv at BayCanvas, YRW Chartered Accountants, Jamis Bicycles, Bodyzone Gym and Health Club, and Peter Leitch the Mad Butcher.
I now look forward to updating you as I get ready for Kona.
Saturday the 7th of March saw the running of the 25th Anniversary of Ironman New Zealand and my second crack at the Ironman distance. After an rollacoaster 2008 which had some awsome training in Belgium and Holland, sickness at World Champs in Holland and a total mental shutdown at Tauranga Half Ironman I was keen to have a good race. I went in with the goal of qualifying for the World Ironman Championships in Hawaii later in the year and what came out of it was pretty cool.
Race day dawned overcast and damp, but conditions were calm which made Lake Taupo perfect for the 3.8km Swim. Unfortunately I did not have as good a swim as I could, getting caught up in the washing machine that is the ironman swim i struggled for a consistent rhythm. I exited in 57minutes about 2 minutes slower than what is was capable of. As soon as i exited the water I felt good and had a spring in my step that would set the tone for the day. Out on the 180km bike and onto the Broadlands I quickly got into my work and spent the next 30km riding hard to catch the top age group bunch. I joined this group around 30km and quickly moved to the front where I set pace along with another age group rider until the bottom of the climb at around 70km.
By 90km I was feeling good and riding well so after picking up my special needs of Enduro Booster and Nuun Caffeine Electrolytes put the foot down a little more and with another athlete Tony O'Hagan put some distance on the chasing group of age groupers. The thing i didn't realise at this time was we had ridin through the age group field and were first amateur athletes overall. I did not click on this until the final turn at Reparoa. On the return home I stepped up the pace again and doing long but legal turns with Tony O'Hagan who also rode really well, put more time into the chasing amateur's.
By the time I hit t2 back in Taupo I had riden 4:55 (fastest amateur split and something like 12th overall) 3km into the run and into my stride I was nearly 4 minutes up on the next amateur athlete so was set to run the Marathon a hunted man. I really ran well for the first half picking up a number of pro athletes (apparently getting as high as 11th overall) and by 22km had 6 minutes on the next age grouper. The feeling of running thru town as the first age grouper was one of the best feelings ever with thousands of people lining the roads, I have to say the support that I had on the course was awsome. Unfortunately my run strength started to fade and at 30km lost the amateur lead to Craig Kirkwood (a Commonwealth games and World Champs Marathon representative). Still having a big lead in my respective age group this did not phase me and I made my way methodically back into town. The last 7 - 8km was the hardest I have ever experienced and had to go to a very dark place, but with plenty of coke, leppin squeezy and some good old caffeine in the form of Powergels I got there to become an ironman 'again'.
Finishing in a time of 9hr 18 minutes, 1st in 25 - 29 age group, 19th overall (including pro athletes) in a international ironman event in only my 2nd year in the sport was pretty cool. To go with that I also booked a spot at Kona (World Ironman Champs) in October, this is the super bowl of ironman triathlon and one of the biggest sporting events in the world so to be going there after only a shade over two years in the sport is very exciting. As For now though i have a few weeks rest to look forward to before even thinking about training again. Oh yeah that means eating heaps, sleeping in and doing those things that you don't have time for during the season.
Before i sign out I would like to thank a number of people for the support you have given me over the last year, without you i would not have got the experience that i did overseas last year and also not been able to race like i did at Ironman. So thanks Rozz and Merv at BayCanvas, YRW Chartered Accountants, Jamis Bicycles, Bodyzone Gym and Health Club, and Peter Leitch the Mad Butcher.
I now look forward to updating you as I get ready for Kona.
Hi Mike,
ReplyDeleteYeah, a very good race indeed. Lots of succes in Kona. For you, I guess it's about the end of the season right now, but over here in Holland we've just started our first spring races.
I'm gonna follow your blog ;-)
Cor
Great to see you start a blog page. It's a great way for all our staff to keep in touch with how you're going.
ReplyDeleteWe look forward to continuing our support and watching you continue to develop as a world class athlete.
Cheers
Eric - Young Read Woudberg (YRW) Chartered Accountants.