End of the season reflections

I can't quite believe that Hawaii Ironman was 4 weeks ago. After the race we had almost a week to relax and explore. In 2008 we headed straight to Oahu and felt like we didn't see much of the rest of the island. So this time we stayed on the Big Island till Friday. Enjoying the warm weather, famous Lava Java breakfasts and Cinnamon rolls, trying our hand at stand up paddle boarding and lazing around.

On the way home we had a 8 hour stop over in San Fransisco, and headed downtown on the first train of the day, then caught the first tram of the day as the city was waking and the sun rising, down to the waterfront, for a warming up coffee (going from high 20's to very low teens was a shocker! - not shorts and flip flops that's for sure) and stroll along the front.

Back home jet lag hit big time. My brain did not return to my body until midweek and i had a stinking cold, so the week was pretty much written off as completely unproductive. We then moved flat the following weekend. The moving out and in was pretty relaxed and uneventful. But having lived in our old flat for almost 5 years, their was a lot of cleaning and painting to be done - but obviously paid off since we got all our deposit back, so we have now rewarded ourselves and blown it on a new mattress.

Doing 3 ironman in 4 months has been trying, both physically and mentally and i have definitely neglected family and friends, so i have been enjoying relaxing and catching up with them, But now I'm slowly getting back into training - although hampered by a flare up of my hayfever. Yes i know wrong time of year but apparently mould and fungi spores are triggers it this time of year.

I sat down with my coach and reflected on the past year and started making plans and setting goals for the next year. Not to sound dismissive but despite achieving my goal of qualify and racing in Hawaii, the year overall has been pretty unlucky for me. I had a number of running injuries, which curtailed the winter and spring base training. My only running race was done off the back of a weeks hard cycling, i think my legs were still in Spain! I lacked speed and confidence in my running ability. Although my swim fitness had improved, my swimming technique still leaves a lot to be desired. Due to June, August and October Ironman's, i missed out on doing cycling time trials, as a result i did not feel as though i was in as good a bike shape as 2009. My first two ironman's in the Nice and the UK, i became suffered with GI Issues! on the run, which was a new experience for me since I've often boasted about the resilience of my stomach. Then after my fall in the T1 of Ironman UK and another minor injury at work a couple of days before a 100 mile time trail, i had a period of back and buttock pain, which prevented me from building up to kona as i would have liked.

Despite the setbacks throughout the year, It ended on a high - a well paced race in Hawaii, so i can only be happy and excited for next year :-)

Ironman World Championships Race Report

Yesterday morning started just before 4am, with a breakfast of so much bagel with honey that i struggled to eat the last mouthfuls. With my breakfast washed down with a black coffee, we headed down to the Pier for body marking and final bike checks. The whole process despite being crowd, with athletes and relatives was completely painless, due to being so well organised. The rest of the morning (as pre race mornings) do went fast and the next thing i know is that the pro's have started and I'm standing on the Pier in my Blue Seventy Point zero 3 XT ready to get into the water. I got into a better spot than in 2008, when i ended up getting stuck on the inside of the peir, but still got completely drowned. (One particular guy completely dunked me, only to then swim a lot slower, and didn't come past me on the bike till the 35 mile point - where's the Aloha!). My swim wasn't to bad. it was hectic out the the turnaround, but then seemed to settle down. And i actually swam in a straight line, which is an achievement for me as i often think i add 100's of meters (okay exaggeration!), to my swim. I Still need to work on my swim as lost 12 mins to some of the faster girls in my age group. Work for the winter. T1 went smoothly and i was pleased to be on to my new Quintana Roo Cd 0.1. It was a lovely ride, i rode within myself and kept the pace controlled, to let my stomach settle, which i may be guilty of not doing in the past. Riding out to Kawaihae went quickly, there were lots of pack riding along this stretch. Before long we were up on the rode to Hawi and the wind was blowing a gale. At one point i was cleanly blown across the road and also lost my race number from by number belt. I was hoping the decent from Hawi, back to Kawaihae would be more pleasant with the downhill speed cancelling out the cross winds, but it was still gusting and their were a few times i actually got off my tri bars and was looking forward to the headwind, we'd have from Kawaihae back to Kona. I felt good the entire bike ride and stuck to my nutrition, hydration and cooling strategies throughout. On the way back to Kona i got a passing penalty for not making a clean pass, which pissed me off since the reason i stop the pass was to let the draft marshal know that i had lost the number, after the ranting at the briefing that you must let someone know you lost your number as soon as possible. So on entering T2 I had a 4 minute penalty to serve.
I started the run conservatively, knowing what happened in Ironman Nice, when i was dehydrated and had heat stroke. I wanted to finish this race well. I stopped at each aid station to take on fluids and put ice down the back of my bra and shorts. I had a few bad patches on the run, but held to plan of running between each aid station. I walked up Palani and also for a short patch out of the energy lab as could feel that i was getting very hot.There were some fast running age group girls on the run. Coming down Palani into the last mile, was a fantastic feeling. This time i completely took in and enjoyed the final 400m's into the finish chute, and somehow managed to muster a massive jump as i crossed the finish line. Happy to have put together a race, where i didn't end up with an upset stomach. Happy to have finished in daylight and not holding a glow stick.

There are still lots of things for me to work on, for one i need to be lighter and leaner to run faster here, to help keep cooler. But for me season is done. 3 Ironman between June and now has been challenging and I'm in need of some downtime. Then back to working on my weaknesses over the winter, ready for next year.

Swim 1:12:45, Bike 5:34:35, Run 3:53:43. Total time 10:51:08

Thanks to The Tri Store for their ongoing Support, Quintana Roo for my lovely bike, the 2011 Cd0.1 and Zoot sports UK/ DJM Products for their ongoing support with sponsorship.

Taper week

This week is always a tough week I find. winding down the training duration and still maintaining calorie intake, normally means I start to feel a tired and sluggish. I know this is normal, but can start to make you feel a bit negative at times. Overall feeling positive for race tomorrow, i know i've the fitness to have a good race, we've been out here for almost 9 days so getting over the heat and humidity. I feel a lot more comfortable training in the heat this time around, than two years ago. There are so many variables in Ironman racing that anyone day can go either way. There are certain to be some bad patches along the 140.6 miles, but that's the time for another caffeine gel!! and endure more pain. On the plus side I've not managed to get sunburnt at all and i've been sleeping really well - no dreams about finding my bike in T1 has been replaced by a granny shopper - complete with step through frame, kick stand and basket! like before Ironman Nice.

This week has been rather quite - some short, easy sessions on the swim, bike and run and lots of sitting around, stretching, reading and drinking coffee.

Tuesday was the parade of nations - so we went along to support Yvette riding in the lead car for GB. We had had an leisurely walk down, so running late joined in at the back.

Wednesday Simon and I went out for a drive along the Mamalahoa highway, which steadily climbs, providing fabulous views of the Kohola coast below and driving towards Mauna Kea which you can just see above the low clouds.

After leaving Waimea we headed out on the Kohala mountain road which climbs to 3,564ft, before dropping down to Hawi (having obligatory coffee stop!) . Its a bit windy in the north of the island and the trees look like they do on beachy head, but that's the only similarity! From this part of the island you can see Maui floating in the background, over 30 miles away.

Thursday was a rest day. Simon, Steve and I did the underpants run - a charity 1 mile jog through kona to raise money for kona special Olympics and take the piss out of the Germans etc who walk around in speedo's. We all went out of town for a bit to captain cook bay, for some fish spotting and general lazing.

Today is Friday - race day is tomorrow. I've been for an easy 20 min swim and easy 40 min bike ride to check it over, now I'm having a rest!, before lunch then bike and bag racking. Tonight will be an early night in preparation for an early start tomorrow. Age group race starts at 7am local time, with the pro's off 30mins before at 6:30am.

Photo Update from Hawaii

Day 4 in Hawaii

Hawaii unsurprisingly is still lovely! The surf has settle down a bit, which has made swimming in the sea here even more pleasant as the fish, turtles and dolphins have come out to play! (although I'm yet to see the last - but there's always tomorrow)
Yesterday started with a long swim - trying to swim the course, but with the sun rising and my dreadful eyes i couldn't see the small marker buoy and just swam in it's general direction. So i roughly swam the course. Then Yvette and I headed out on a 4hour easy ride along the Queen K highway. Drank 4 1/2 litres and didn't pee at all - slightly worrying. The Boys (Simon and Steve) collected us at the 76 mile point, having ridden 4hours and 2 mins - they were cutting there arrival fine. Simon's spoke broke when he was out riding this morning, so a lot of the afternoon was spent at a bike shop! with him playing with spokes and nipples! it's not yet fixed so more of the same tomorrow possibly. we were charges $120 dollars to fly each bike out here so he needs to get some riding in.

Today was a bike/ run session - the last long session before next weekend 50 mile bike with some race pace intervals then 10 mile run along Alii Drive. Very hot and very sweaty. Glad the session is done and went well. Felt shocking for first 2 miles of the run, but once I'd got used to feeling hot and having heavy legs, my running came together. Had my legs up for most of the afternoon. Easy stroll into town and customary coffee stop!

Legs are feeling tired for today's session, ready to taper properly now!

6 days till race day.