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Ironman New Zealand - TriathlonFull Ironman
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 Swim
Comments: I'm a pretty slow swimmer so after watching last year's highlights decided to start in the shallows away from the bouy line. I ended up right at the front but there were so few people over my side it was no problem - no bumping or agro at all! After so many months of training in the pool and ocean the lake was just beautiful - calm, clear, and tasted like real water! The outward leg went by in a flash and I had the chance to look around a bit and see things on the bottom of the lake (pipes, divers taking photos, rocks, weed, etc), the beautiful shoreline, trees, and a few peaks of town (amazing how you can see the golden arches from anywhere...). I slowly made may way in towards the bouy line, and the crowd had thinned a lot by this time so again no agro or problems. I was counting breaths to estimate how far I was, and at my guess of the outward leg 1/2 way point I looked up to see the turnaround only a couple of minutes away. I couldn't believe it! A little congestion at the 2 turnaround bouys then it was on the return leg. Things started to go a bit wrong here. I was breathing mainly away form the bouyline on this leg and ended up swimming quite a long way offline. I came back in but was all of a sudden swimming very zig zaggedly. Then out of the blue I got a cramp in my left calf. I stopped to stretch that and could feel my left quad cramp a little too. I'd never cramped in swimming before but was really freaked out that if it was happening already in the day how was I going to get through to the end? At that point I had to make the box real small and just worry about getting from bouy to the next to get me though the swim first. I breast stroked a little to try and keep stretching / moving the leg, then after a while started swimming slowly again. I tried a lot of things to just get me though like not kicking, kicking hard, sighting off people and the bouys to my side when I was breathing only, etc. The leg tightened and twitched again at various times but I didn't have to stop again. So I finally made it to to shore, tentatively stood up, and promptly both legs tightened up massively. I could only hobble out of the water, and slowly walk the 400m run to T1. Gave my family a big smile and wave so they wouldn't think anything was wrong (I'm always a bit wobbly coming out of the water) the grimaced and kept shuffling up the path. Amongst all that I was amazed to see only 1h 20mins on the clock. I had never pushed the swim pace and with time lost to the cramp I thought it would end up being much longer. I was expecting 1h 30 mins from all the long training swims I had done. I guess with all those people out there the whirlpool effect was helping me out nicely. What would you do differently?: Get swim coaching and do squads to become a better swimmer.  Transition 1
Comments: Grabbed my bag, rummaged through for the crampstop (a magic homeopathic remedy I had only just discovered a couple of weeks before), and pumped a few shots into me. Took a couple of deep breaths then slowly go onto the job of dealing with T1. After my trouble on the swim I decided to take everything easy so as not to trigger any more cramp, particularly in trainsitions between disciplines. From here on in I was simply out to survive as long as I could. So T1 was very slow but I didn't care. What would you do differently?: Not get cramp on the swim!  Bike
Comments: A very gentle start. It felt good to stretch / move the legs in a different way but the cramp spots were quite sore with each pedal stroke to start with. Another smile and wave to the family then I was off. A short stretch along the lake front then a short hill climb followed by an easy gradual up hill section. I kept reminding myself to take it easy, and I was, but I was still passing quite a few people already. At this point I realised I was starving (and wondered if this was anything to do with the cramp) so started the nutrition earlier and even downed a bar that I was planning on saving til much later. The stomach felt a bit happier then so I got on with the job of riding and eating. The first leg out was fairly uneventful. I found it hard to settle in to a good rythym because there was always someone in front of me. Sometimes I would pass them and sometimes I would slow down because I didn't want to expend too much energy at this stage. I was eating and drinking roughly to plan but already my stomach was feeling quite full and just not quite right. After the turnaround (45km) I started passing a lot of people. Normally there is a headwind going this way and being false flat makes it harder too. Today there was no noticeable wind and I found the riding really easy. My legs felt heavy but I didn't feeling like I was pushing too hard and I knew I was riding faster than expected (thanks to Kerry for the borrowed race wheels!). The last 10km of this stretch slowly peaks up into a hill but I hardly even noticed it. From there it was a long gentle downhill into town. As I got back into town I was astounded at the number of locals out for a look and supporters. Literally thousands of people lining the streets cheering us on. State highway 1 (main rounte the length of NZ) runs right through the middle of Taupo and it is bought to a total standstill for this race. Cyclists get 100% right of way and there are police and marshalls on every corner controlling pedestrians and traffic to give us a clear run. Obviosuly this race is good for the town's economy but the trouble they go to for 1500 insane people on race day is just amazing. So out it was onto lap 2 of the same. Whenever I stood up to stretch / have a break from aero I was aware of soreness at the cramp points, but when sitting and cycling normally the legs felt fine the whole way. Once over the hill the crowds had faded, the rain settled in for a while and I was feeling a bit cold and off, this was about the only patch where I wasn't completely buzzing and excited about what I was doing. My secret weapon (amazing capacity to consume nutrition - up to 500 Cal/hour on the bike) had never really kicked in, so I decided it was time to try something different. So far I had been surviving off my own nutrition (I get sick of Power Bar pretty quickly) but I picked up and down a couple of caffeine gels. Those kicked in, the rain cleared, and the family had driven about 30km out of town for a bit of support so that perked me up. Next thing I knew I was at the turnaround again. Saw the family on my way back and suddenly it was only 30km (of uphill but again I was finding it easy) to go. I had mini celebrations at each of the 10km markers all the way to now, so now I started counting down and working out where I would be if this was a training ride somewhere around home. I was chatting away to all the people I passed (almost 1/2 the field were from overseas) and thanking all the volunteers at aid stations as much as I could. Down the last 10km and suddenly I was back in town. It had started raining again but I was just so happy I didn't care. I hit the lake front, suddenly it was fine and sunny, got my feet out of the shoes, wriggled my toes and felt a million bucks (in the head, but stomach still just not quite right). I hadn't seen a clock the whole ride. I had trained without a cycle computer (didn't want to get caught up in trying to achieve a certain pace when my body wasn't ready for it) so was racing exactly the same way - by feel. I knew my ride time would be good, and at 6h 10mins I was stocked as I was expecting it to be 6h 30mins+. What would you do differently?: Not much Transition 2
Comments: I hopped off the bike very gingerly in case the cramp was going to misbehave, but I felt fine. Still walked to the change tent, took my time though there, and waited for a toilet before heading out on the run. In the change tent my feet were looking very ugly from having been in wet bike shoes for 6+ hours, but the taping I had done the night before seemed to be holding up so it was fingers crossed for as few blisters as possible. What would you do differently?: Not worry about cramp and just go for it.  Run
Comments: The run starts over a temporary bridge to cross the road, and I knew that if I cramped on the downhill of that it would be an ominous sign for the run to come. I game down very carefully, felt fine, hit the flat and started to run slowly. I followed the guy in front of me for the first couple of km to make sure I was doing an easy pace, then with the legs feeling a bit more alive settled into a comfortable pace I knew I could keep up for a long time. My plan was to have 1/2 a gel at every aid station and I did this all the way through to about 25km. I walked each aid station to make sure I was getting enough water into me. My stomach felt very full the whole way and again not quite right. Cramp seemed to be holding off so I figured feeling a bit grotty in the stomach was worth it. The crowd support on the run was just incredible. The run is long the shoulder of State Highway 1 around the lakefront and out passed the airport. In town there were crowds 2 - 3 people deep encouraging everyone on. Most of them ignored me at the start of the run as they were cheering Cameron Brown coming in for his 8th IMNZ title, but even as I got further out of town there would not have more than 100m along the whole route where there was someone out there for support. Heaps of these people were locals too - not just friends and family of race participants. Some of my crowd highlights were: * The guy banging a wooden spoon and pot (must have been out there all day - I saw him on both laps of the bike and every leg of the run and he never stopped) * The group of women (40+ years old) in bikinis who had moved their spa pool out to the edge of the road * My wife who was wearing a HTFU t-shirt for me * My wife and sister singing stupid songs to me as I went passed * Guy who was ignoring his water ban who had hooked up his hose as a shower for us to run through * Dressed up people * Great stereos playing "hurt so good" and some Green Day at different points on the run * Cars going passed tooting and yelling encouragement * All the kids who wanted to be hi 5ed by us sweaty people * All the kids helping their volunteer parents at aid stations * And so many more I just can't remember now So the first lap went by in a flash. I was running slow / comfortable so had time to take it all in and chat with the crowd and other competitors. There was a bit of rain at the start of lap 2 so some of the supporters disappeared. A couple of times I felt twicthes in my legs, so pumped in a bit more cramp stop, but cramp never hit. It may have been just tired twitches but I wasn't going to take the chance. My balance of pace, fluid, nutrition, and electrolyte pills seemed to be doing the trick. I kept plodding away and was pretty stoked to get to the 28km mark. This had been my longest run in training during which I picked up a minor IT band injury then later running got disrupted by a bit of cramp. I had bit of a shot out to myself and told everyone about it, then switched to coke to celebrate. Coke never really gave me the kick I was expecting, and for the last 10km I really struggled to get anything (even water into me). My stomach was rebelling after a day of being full of sweet stuff and I did wonder if I would be stopping to puke soon but it never quite came to that. Kms 28 - 33 were pretty tough. I was tired (was never at the point of "can't go on" or have to stop running" though), concentration was off, and my stomach was grotty. I couldn't talk to people at this stage, and the walks through aid stations had got a bit longer by this stage (mainly because it took so long to get any sips of water into me rather than wanting to walk) but I just kept plodding away. As the kms ticked over I celebrated each one, and started to perk up a little with the thought of being almost done. With 4km to go a guy told me I had 20 mins to break 12 hours. I had no idea how I was doing time wise. I hadn't worn a watch because I wanted to do it by feel (just like in training) and didn't want to beat myself up trying to do a time that might not be achievable or might result in cramp. I got pretty excited by this and figured I have easy run 5min kms in training so went for it. After a couple of minutes I realised there was no I way I was running 5min kms but just kept going as hard as I could. This whole section was a blur tho. So finally I made it to the chute. I ran down to my family, stopped and hugged them, grabbed my girls and ran across the line. Poor things got dragged along a bit quick in all my excitement I think! I crossed the line in 12hours 06 mins, got my towel and medal, and just stood there wobbling all a bit choked up with a big goofy grin on my face. The catchers looked worried for a moment but then figured out I was ok. In hindsight the whole cute was a blur and I wished I had slowed down and taken it all in. I didn't see or hear anyone in the crowd apart from my family, didn't hear my name get called, and don't even know what song was playing. This is my one regret from the whole day. But I certainly don't feel like I missed out on the "Ironman finish experience" - I felt like I was getting it all day long from the crowd. Post race
Warm down: I went though weigh in (exactly the same as starting weight - no wonder my stomach felt full and a bit off all day) then came out to see the family and have a photo taken. Back in and I really didn't feel like eating but thought I should so tentatively tried a ham and cheese sandwich. Who would have thought processed food would feel and taste so good. I munched my way through a few of these while chatting to some others then got a glorious massage. Was a bit tender in spots and this tightened everything up but a few hours later it was feeling great. I suddenly got cold so got changed, grabbed another handful of sandwiches and headed out to meet my wife. I had originally planned to stick around and cheer on some others but I was suddenly very tired. Got all my gear into the car then tried to find something else to eat. Couldn't make up my mind and finally settled on some hot chips. Ate a handful then had enough of them. Headed home and gave everyone the rundown on my day (voice was pretty hoarse by now) while I was having a stretch. Had warmed up nicely and was feeling much better now. Had an ice bath and sat around chatting for a while then decided I wanted to go back to support the last hour's finishers. About to walk out the door when I suddenly got cold and full on shivers so just went straight to bed. The next day was feeling very stiff and sore. This eased off over a few days but as the legs got better I got tireder. Now 5 days on I'm finally feeling pretty normal. Have also been stoked to have none of the blues so far. I had bit of a down immediately after the race because such an amazing day was suddenly over (no doubt I was a bit tired too!) but didn't have my wife on hand to celebrate then and there. But since then I have been reliving the memories and excited about what's coming up for me. There probably won't be another IM in the near future as the training commitment with a family is so huge and I've missed a lot with them over the last 6 months. But my wife is fully behind me to keep training at a reasonable level (with a bit less structure) and do a number of local run and ride events for fun. Hopefully this will maintain a reasonable base for when I'm ready to step it up again for my next IM. What limited your ability to perform faster: Unsure of my capabilities. In the end I exceeded expectations and probably could have gone a little bit harder all the way. However I didn't want to blow out and wreck my first IM experience. Event comments: Leading up to the event I was a bit critical of the organisers - there seemed to be a lot of information missing or not available that as a first timer I felt was really important to planning my race strategy, as well as general preparation and logistics of the event. I still think there is a real need for a first timer's guide, but overall the event organisation and execution was fantastic - like a well oiled machine. Taupo's support of the event was simply exceptional. Businesses were 100% behind it and genuinely interested. 2000 locals volunteered and did an amazing job with relatively little thanks. Locals who look like they have never exercised a day in their life were out there supporting us athletes like there was no tomorrow. The Prime Minister of NZ turned up to lend his support to the event and how important it is to New Zealand. Both of NZ's TV sports news organisations were broadcasting live from the event. Taupo truly is the events capital of NZ. This race is a must do for anyone who wants an amazing IM experience. Last updated: 2008-07-24 12:00 AM
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 2009-03-12 2:40 AM |
Extreme Veteran 428  |  Subject: Ironman New Zealand |
| 2009-03-12 3:28 AM in reply to: #2012559 |
Member 23 Auckland | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand Hey Gerrard Great to see your race report on here. I'm impressed mate - you did all this on your own! Superb effort, and the run was a stormer! I had the help of a coach all the way through which I think made the lack of first timers information from the organisers not so much of an issue for me. She had me very well prepped for the whole thing. Like you I'm sure joining a swim squad will help with my swimming for next time. What an awesome day! Cheers |
| 2009-03-12 4:32 PM in reply to: #2012559 |
| Extreme Veteran 428 | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand Cheers Andy. I had an absolute ball all day and would love to go do it again tomorrow (well, maybe in a few months....) but it's been all about me for the last 6 months so it's a bit of family time for a while now. You never know there might be a 1/2 in the mix next summer tho. Oh, and sorry about the huge report but I wanted to capture it all for me as much as anyone else. Gerrard
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| 2009-03-12 6:01 PM in reply to: #2012559 |
Extreme Veteran 600 Melbourne | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand Congratulations Gerrard. You are an IRONMAN. Welcome to the family! Loved, loved, loved the report. Great detail. Likewise I'm impressed that you did this without the support of a coach. Imagine the possibilities for next time Until then, enjoy the break. |
. | 2009-03-12 8:54 PM in reply to: #2012559 |
Elite 2423 | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand Great story, I hope to do it one day. |
| 2009-03-13 12:47 PM in reply to: #2014880 |
Extreme Veteran 378 Seattle | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand |
| 2009-03-13 7:31 PM in reply to: #2014880 |
| New user 22 | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand Your report was not too long at all. It is an opportunity to relive the race thru another person. I thoroughly enjoyed the report. You did a great job with the race. I was there as well and was simply overwhelmed with the local support. It seemed as if the entire population of NZ was present. Toward the end, I had to fight back tears at times because the crowd support was so unbelieveable and I could not believe they had been out there all day and into the night. This is a long light from the east coast of the USA but I sure hope to get back in a year or two. IMNZ is just too good of a race to not do several times. Congrats to you and everyone else involved. |
| 2009-03-15 4:56 AM in reply to: #2012559 |
Expert 859 Perth, Australia | Subject: RE: Ironman New Zealand Gerrard, what a great race report, I thoroughly enjoyed every word of it. I loved all the detail and it was so personal and inspiring, thank you for taking the trouble to writie it. What a beautiful part of the world to have an IM in, wow. Awesome acheivement mate |
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New Zealand
20C / 68F
Overcast
Overall Rank = 630/1235
Age Group = Male 35-39
Age Group Rank = 107/234
Please excuse the long intro but I needed to explain how big this event was and how much it meant to me.
My first every memory of Ironman was one of the mid 80's races at Mission Bay. I was about 14 years old and there one night to watch some fireworks. There were a few people out running with light sticks on and a Canadian guy ran past just as the fireworks were starting around 9pm with a big grin on his face and said something like "All this for me? You guys are great". Dad told me what Ironman was and all I could think was "impossible". And the fact this guy was still happy after 14 hours on the go just blew me away.
Fast forward 20 years and I'd been active in windsurfing, tennis, bike commuting to work, the occasional run that I didn't really enjoy, but I had absolutely no interest or commitment to any sport that required training and pushing my limits.
Finally in 2007 I decided it was time for a challenge. Work / business didn't push my challenge buttons so I went looking at sport and decided to do the round Taupo 160km bike ride. This event had been done by hundreds of thousands of people before me, and to some of my mates it was no big deal. But it was a huge deal to me. Actually committing to something that required training, dedication and time was a huge step.
And as it turned out I loved it. I loved having a reason to get up every day and go out and do something I enjoyed. I loved learning about something new (how to train and why it's done a certain way, sports nutrition, etc), and loved the satisfaction of riding further than I ever had before.
For me it was just a bit of fun so I was determined to do it with what I had (mountain bike, boardies, running shoes, backpack, etc) and wasn't interested in getting fancy stuff for this one off event.
Come event day I had an absolute blast I blew away my time expectations, went faster than plenty of people on fancy road bikes, and stormed up Hatepe hill passing everyone while determined not to get passed myself. I was on a total high. That high wore off once I was home and didn't have the incentive to go out training every day so I went looking for something else. A year was too long to wait til the next round Taupo ride, and I figured doing the same event again would never reproduce that first time buzz. The Auckland 1/2 Ironman was only a few months away and I figured it would take me about the same amount of time so went for it.
I had to learn how to swim from scratch, found a free training plan and adapted it to me, then went hard out in the training with all my old gear (12 year old mountain bike, boardies, backpack, surfing wetsuit, etc). Big mistake! I really didn't know what I was doing and screwed up my training badly which followed through to the event. Somehow I still managed to do it in my time goal, but I had a lot of cramp during the event, it wasn't fun, and it was 2 months after the event til I finally shook off the effects.
I was pretty bummed by that so thought what the hell, lets go for the doctor and put it right by doubling the distance and doing the full Ironman. This time I did it much smarter: bought the basic gear (yes decided even the boardies and mountain bike had to go in favour of lycra and a road bike), asked a lot of questions of people, read a lot of books about training, and found a plan I liked and would stick to.
And so it began. What was once such an impossible concept was now very doable and even became normal to me. I loved the training every day (yes some of it was damn hard) and learning about something new. I was excited to live and breathe it every day (a bit obsessive if you ask my wife...) and have a reason to push myself. From the moment I decided to do Ironman I had no doubt what so ever that I could do it. The big question was how fast / well could I do it?
The training generally went well. I learnt new techniques and had new gear for swimming, riding, and running, and it was all great fun. A small running injury in the middle of training caused bit of a hiccup, and I never got in the really long sessions after that.
Then towards the end of training the wheels fell off a bit more. My biggest fear of cramp (has occurred in every event to date but never in training) came back one day so I missed much of my peak week's training, I got sick around the same time, then life got very busy and I was over tired and struggling to get through the day let alone training. All this screwed with my head badly and I lost a lot of confidence. Lucky for me Kirst was there to pick up the pieces, help me get a bit of perspective, and she sacrificed a lot to get me through to the end. Thank you so much babe!
Had my tried and trusted pre race breakfast (mmmmm... 3 slices thick fruit toast with cottage cheese, craisins, nectarine, almonds), then headed off the the race. Checked and set up my bike then hung around a bit while my wife got a coffee. I suddenly got a headache and was feeling really hungry so popped a couple of pills and downed a banana.
Headed for the lake front where we could hear (but not see because of the crowds) the Maori welcome and waka coming across the lake. Got wetsuited up, heard the pro start, kissed the loved ones good bye, and headed for the lake.
Surprisingly there were no tears from any of us. I was totally excited that the day I had spent so long training for was finally here. A quick dip in the water and a minute or 2 swim warm up then I chatted to a few others while we were waiting.