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Ironman New Zealand
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Ironman New Zealand - TriathlonFull Ironman
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 Swim
Comments: Started about middle of line and slightly to front of middle. Navigation was poor down first leg - I was all over the place. Much better on way back. I'm not a strong swimmer, so a 1.22 time was average for me. Last 1300m or so was much better, started to pull back some places. What would you do differently?: More swim training through winter. Squads, then open water swims through spring/early summer to get used to the navigation & group starts.  Transition 1
Comments: 400m run from exit of water to T1 so this adds to time. Pretty happy overall with this given it's my first IM. What would you do differently?: Train in, then wear tri-specific gear. I biked in my bike shorts, so had to put them on after swim, and probably lost 2-3 mins farting around with my clothing.  Bike
Comments: First time I've done a ride this long on fresh legs, so that combined with the adrenaline meant I went slightly faster than I intended. But generally happy. What would you do differently?: Not much apart from being able to train off a good base over next year so hopefully be faster next year! Transition 2
Comments: Needed some medical attention here - painkillers for sore knees (made no difference!). What would you do differently?: Could be faster with better choice of tri-gear, rather than changing into running gear.  Run
Comments: First 10k was OK. Not great, but OK. Then I got into my dark place in a big way on the return leg of first lap. Ready to quit several times, in quite a lot of back pain (lats, probably from being more in aeros than I usually am), generally had enough. Managed to keep going (walk/run) until I got to the turnaround where I ran past people finishing and getting the "YOU'RE AN IRONMAN!!!" call as they finished. That motivated me hugely, and the ibuprofen gel I got for my back at an aid station helped too. Support crew "chased" me on the 2nd lap of the run and kept popping up when I least expected them to do so. That helped enormously. Also, allowed myself to walk through aid stations to make sure I ate and drank enough (chocolate and Pepsi on lap 2) but absolutely only run between them. Got into a good head space, visualised finishing, told myself I owned the hills, and ran a faster 2nd lap than first. What would you do differently?: Not much. experience and a stronger base should help me be a little faster next time. Interesting to experience just how much of a mind game it is. Post race
Warm down: Nothing specific. Couldn't eat or drink for about 45 minutes as I'd really pushed the last 4 kms. After that was OK, and able to drink champagne too! What limited your ability to perform faster: Heart operation 15 months prior, which meant I was coming off a zero base, just 13 months out from the race. Not the same for next years, so hoping to build on this. Event comments: The most incredibly well organised 4 days of my life. 2000+ volunteers and a team of experts made this an incredible experience. Profile Album Last updated: 2009-03-01 12:00 AM
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 2009-03-11 5:11 AM |
Member  23 Auckland |  Subject: Ironman New Zealand |
| 2009-03-11 7:05 AM in reply to: #2010202 |
Champion 19812    MA | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand Congratulations! Incredible from heart surgery to IM in such a short period of time. You look to happy in all your pictures. Glad you overcame the back pain and negative split the run..impressive! |
| 2009-03-11 7:38 PM in reply to: #2010202 |
| 5 | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand Well done Ironman, Great report, and an inspiration to come back following heart surgery. I'm aiming for my first 1/2 in October and reports like this make the training that much easier to handle. Cheers |
| 2009-03-12 12:17 AM in reply to: #2010202 |
Regular 113 gilbert | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand What an inspiration! You are an Ironman! |
| 2009-03-12 3:18 AM in reply to: #2010202 |
Extreme Veteran 428 | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand Hey Andy - bloody impressive result given the heart surgery not long ago! Sorry to have missed you on the run. We must have been close and even passed each other a few times during the day, but by 2nd lap of the run I could only focus on myself so didn't have a clue who was around me. Sorry about that! Well done and good luck for the next one. I would love to be there in 2010 but training commitment with the kids is a big ask. Might be a couple of years before I race again. My wife got right into the event tho and is even keen for us to both volunteer next year so hopefully I'll still get the chance to finally see you! Gerrard |
| 2009-03-12 3:36 AM in reply to: #2012563 |
Member 23 Auckland | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand Gerrard - I think we were reading each others reports at the same time! I saw you go past me, then a few times saw you running towards me at turnaround time - each time getting further ahead of me. I think I passed you on the bike and noticed the name on your number, then realised after I'd gone past you that it was probably you! I understand the sacrifice with training when you've got a family to think of too - I don't which makes things easier. Also, I didn't work from end of November, start again on Monday. That meant there were no conflicts with training and I could do my training in daylight rather than starting in the dark in the early morning. Had a debfrief with my coach yesterday. She reckons next time around I could take an hour off my time given similar conditions/no gear issues. Half that time gain on the bike, and the rest across swim, transitions & run. Relatively little off run. I'm pretty solid (91.5kg on pre race weigh in) so running is not my strength! In the meantime, I'm forbidden from thinking about triathlons for the next couple of months! Train for fun, not for events is her mantra for now! Andy |
| 2009-03-12 3:41 AM in reply to: #2010258 |
Member 23 Auckland | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand KathyG - 2009-03-12 2:05 AM Congratulations! Incredible from heart surgery to IM in such a short period of time. You look to happy in all your pictures. Glad you overcame the back pain and negative split the run..impressive! Thanks Kathy. The smile was there just about the whole day. I have heaps more photos where I'm grinning like a Cheshire cat! The only time it disappeared was when I was in my dark place on the 2nd 10k of the run, and the last couple of k's when I was pushing it pretty hard, up a slight hill to the finish. Although I was hurting a bit, it was the most fantastic feeling to be completing an Ironman given where I'd come from. |
| 2009-03-12 8:18 AM in reply to: #2010202 |
Champion 6503 NOVA - Ironic for an Endurance Athlete | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand Congrats! Did you see any big trout during the swim? |
| 2009-03-12 1:57 PM in reply to: #2012771 |
Member 23 Auckland | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand pga_mike - 2009-03-13 3:18 AM Congrats! Did you see any big trout during the swim? LOL - no big trout, but quite a few scuba divers sitting on the bottom watching us. A couple of them were waving as we swam over them. Also a few support signs, and the odd empty beer can. The clear water was amazing to swim in, and great not to get "salt water mouth" (I'm used to swimming in the sea & saltwater pool) |
| 2009-03-12 2:43 PM in reply to: #2010202 |
Master 2490 Atlanta, Georgia Silver member | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand Congrats on your day! |
| 2009-03-12 6:06 PM in reply to: #2010202 |
Extreme Veteran 600 Melbourne | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand Kathy sums it up nicely. Heart surgery then Ironman = unbelievably inspiring! Congratulations on the awesome effort out there. Edited by Casie 2009-03-12 6:07 PM |
| 2009-03-12 8:54 PM in reply to: #2010202 |
Elite 2423 | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand Awesome race. One of the races I am looking to do. |
| 2009-03-13 12:53 PM in reply to: #2014879 |
Extreme Veteran 378 Seattle | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand Nice one Andy - great work. |
| 2009-03-17 3:30 PM in reply to: #2010202 |
Pro 5169 Burbs | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand Congratulations on a fantastic day !! |
| 2009-03-17 3:36 PM in reply to: #2010202 |
Master 1790 | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand |
| 2009-09-28 8:26 PM in reply to: #2010202 |
Expert 1092 St. Paul, MN | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand NICE WORK!! Way to go!! That bike split was GREAT!! My wife is thinking about doing this race next year, and it's great to hear that you thought it was well organized. That's a GREAT sign! Some IMs are well organized, some are not... Congrats again!! |
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New Zealand
Ironman New Zealand
20C / 68F
Overcast
Overall Rank = 702/1235
Age Group = M4044
Age Group Rank = 140/
Bed about 9.30pm night before, asleep by around 10pm, and despite wakening several times during the night, I was always able to go straight back to sleep.
First alarm at 3.55am with second at 4.00am. Lying in bed thinking "I'm about to do my first Ironman" and my heart rate started to race!
Breakfast 1 (cornflakes and coffee) at about 4.10am, then snooze until 5am when it was breakfast 2 of "pikelets", basically small, fat pancakes, covered in honey. Drank carbo drink all through this time, up to race start.
At race number marking by 5.45am, and done and doing final bike prep by 6am. Then at about 6.20am down to beach to soak up the atmosphere and await the 7am start.
Deep water start so swam out to general start area about 10 minutes before start and treaded water until I happened to find a rock that I could balance on and save my energy.
No real warm-up!