South Island Half-Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I didn't swim this "hard", instead I swam it "strong" and practiced perfect sighting. I had fun.

Nothing, maybe go out a bit stronger... not too much.

It was a freezing cold, windy and rainy day. I spent a lot of time in transition putting on warmer clothing (arm warmers, booties, etc). It was worth it b/c even so, I was frozen on the bike.

Nothing, other than not have a disgustingly cold day to race in.

I spent the first 30k feeling sorry for myself, barely pedaling, cold as ice. Then a girl passed me on the bike that really shouldn't have. At that point, for the next 60k, I did perfect Z3 and passed her back. Rough day. I was SO cold, I couldn't feel my feet. But at least I ate and hydrated well.

Not get down on myself for the first 30k and start racing right away (I blame the cold temperature and the rain).

Got all my warm gear off (now soaking wet), got into my shoes and off I went.

Not forget to take off my armwarmers. Had to double back a bit.

Run of death. I started the run with incredibly low HR and fast pace. I thought, AWESOME, once my feet defreeze, I'll be a rock star in this half-marathon. But... the feet didn't unfreeze, they just got more and more painful and iced up. It was painful to run on them. And finally at around the 13k mark, I started to slow down painfully. My feet were in serious pain. They'd come off the bike absolutely numb and then I went straight to running on them. Like slabs of iced meat. Horrible experience. The entire run my HR was low (low Z2) and I couldn't get it any higher. This could have been an amazing half-marathon but it just wasn't happening. Anyway, I finished in a slow time, but ah well. Live and learn. Another experience.

My feet always freeze up on the bike if it isn't beautifully warm outside. I don't know what I could have done differently. Maybe brought my neoprene booties... but that seemed a bit much. Next time, though, I'll consider it.

Walked around, ate a cookie, got a massage on the legs, started shivering horribly so I warmed up in the car with the heater on.


The cold weather. I was freezing, and just not willing to put in bigger efforts, or (as on the run) not ABLE to put in big efforts.


It's a small, well-organized race. Not exactly beautiful (I hate doing loops and out-and-backs), but it was good practice. A lot of these kiwis use this race as prep for Challenge Wanaka, so I'm sure to see them again in January. Overall, there were 43 women and 88 men doing the half-ironman. A small race, but a good vibe and friendly atmosphere. I was definitely the only foreigner.