The journey of my "Midlife Crisis!"...part 5 (Ironman NZ)

You cannot imagine the feeling of excitement that I felt when I got to Ironman registration in Taupo on March 3 and they put the athlete's wristband on my wrist. At that moment, everything I had been working towards for the past 3 years had been worth it and it all of a sudden felt very real. Just being in Taupo itself - being part of the atmosphere and seeing all of the other athletes was a sensational feeling. I will admit that in the week leading up to Ironman there were quite a few nerves but they all went away as soon as I got to Taupo.

Thursday & Friday were spent relaxing mostly although I did go for a quick bike, swim, & run just to stretch the legs. Following registration on Thursday I attended a seminar run by Tony Jackson - who had completed all 26 of the Ironman NZ run to date so as you can imagine with someone of his experience he had quite a few tips. There was also the carbo-loading party on Thursday night which is where all the athletes load up on pasta, bread, & salad ahead of Ironman - essentially the last big feast. Friday saw another seminar run by a well known coach named Jon Ackland who gave more advice for first timers doing the event. By that time G & Sally had arrived and  the support crew was nearly complete - R & I, G, Sally, Peter, Mum, Glen & Linda...collectively known as "Team Orange". Plus there were a heap of friends who were going to follow my progress on the internet such is the beauty of the modern world. All support was gratefully appreciated by me as having people there to cheer you on does give you a big boost and spur you on.

Not surprisingly given what I was going to be doing the next day, after a big plate of spaghetti bol (thanks Peter), I was in bed just after 8pm. I thought I would have difficulty sleeping but I actually didn't...but I had an inkling that I would be awake early so I wasn't surprised that at 3.30am I was lying wide awake in bed.

Ironman Day - 5 March 2011
I was up at 4.45am so that I could have a big breakfast and by 5.30am I was in the car with G & Sally heading down to the Taupo Domain which was headquarters for the race. I had been keeping an eye on the weather forecast all week and it had suggested that there would be showers early in the day with light northerly winds and clearing in the afternoon. Well they got one part of it right - the wind was coming from the north. When I woke up, the rain was bucketing down and showed no sign of letting up...which was a preview of the day ahead as apart from some brief respites it didn't let up throughout the whole day. I didn't however get too worried about it as the weather is the one thing that you cannot control and it was the same for all the competitors - from elite down to novice.

As my bike had been checked in the previous day, all I had to do was to make sure that the tyres hadn't gone down overnight and to load up the bike with the first lot of drink bottles I'd need on the road. After that, it was into the change tent to get out of the wet but also to have some down time ahead of the start. The mood in the tent was subdued as everyone was thinking about the day ahead so there were some nerves and not a  lot of chatter. After getting into my wetsuit, there was a 400 metre walk down to the lake front for the start. Surprisingly there were no nerves on my part when I was down at the lake as I was determined to enjoy the day - and if anyone has seen the official Ironman NZ TV program (showed in April) and saw my 3 second appearance on camera, the big grin I had on my face would back that statement up. The elite athletes are given a 15 minute head start, so after they had taken off at 6.45 it was the turn of the rest of the field (age-groupers) to swim out to the start line. Getting into the water was such a buzz, and when you get to the start line and are surrounded by 1450 other people the buzz intensifys - especially as before the start we all let out a big cheer. (One of those spontaneous things!) Still no nerves on my part and in the final couple of minutes leading up to the start, I reflected on my journey to get to that point and it felt so worth the effort that had gone into it. The 10 second countdown came on, then starting cannon went off and I was away.

Swim leg - 3.8km

In the previous triathlon/half ironman events I'd done, I knew that the start of the swim would be a bit of a bash & smash fest as people jockey for position and for clear swimming space - it's normal to get hit by flying arms & legs. And this event was no different in that regard however the only difference is that I continued to get bashed for at least the first 1.5km. Swimming 3.8km is a long way when you look at in totality however based upon the advice from Tony Jackson the previous Thursday I broke it down into 2 legs - the first leg being 1.8km to the swim turnaound markers down the lake, and the second leg being the last 2 km coming back. This philosophy worked well for me. One of the biggest challenges in the swim leg can be the boredom of it so you try to keep your mind active with silly little things - one of the ones I used was to try and count the number of golf balls I could see on the lake floor from the Hole in One golf challenge. I also tried to keep directly behind a swimmer in front of me as that forced me to concentrate on their feet so that I didn't get hit by them - the other benefit of that is you go quicker because of the reduced drag from swimming behind someone. I got to the swim turnaround markers (after initially aiming at the wrong one) and I felt pretty good as I headed back to the start line. By this time the field had spread out so the bashfest had stopped, and it was gratifying to actually be passing some people. The only difficulty I experienced on the return leg was my swimming goggles fogging up near the end meaning I couldn't see particularly well, but apart from that the swim went as well as I had expected. Before I knew it, I was back on the beach and starting the 400 metre run to the transition area.
Swim time - 01:19:07

Bike leg - 180km
The 400m run is a good way to get your legs working properly again after the swim, and what I remember of the run was running along this green matted path which was quite narrow and being surrounded on both sides by cheering spectators. Into the change tent, out of the wetsuit, and into the cycling gear. Due to the weather I had to make a choice on whether I would wear a second cycling top over the one I had worn under my wetsuit, and in the end I decided that I would. With hindsight this turned out to be a very good decision!
Out to the bike, and exited the transition area just under 10 minutes after I got out of the water.

The bike course is 2 x 90km laps to the town of Reporoa. The course itself is considered undulating with some small hills at the start which is then followed by a lot of flat roads to Reporoa, so I initially took it easy until I got warmed up. The rain hadn't let up and was tipping down making the roads very slippery and the chances of puncturing a lot higher than normal. One of the other considerations on the bike is the non-drafting rule meaning that you cannot be within 7 metres of the front wheel of the bike in front of you. If you are within this distance then you get an advantage of being "towed" along by the person in front. If you're caught by one of the officials, you get a 4 minute time penalty - thankfully I wasn't caught but I did get warned once. One of the real benefits of Ironman is that all of your food & drink requirements are catered for, and the aid stations on the bike course were approximately every 15kms. These contained a lot of items - banana's, mini moro bars, cookies, energy gels, coke, water, electrolyte drink...a real smorgasbord. You basically yelled out what you wanted, someone shoved it into your hand, and you keep on going without stopping. I got the hang of it pretty quick!

1 hour 42 into the bike I got to Reporoa for the first time, and turned to come back to Taupo. The wind (what there was of it) which had been a headwind going to Reporoa all of a sudden became a tail wind which meant that my speed increased. The biggest risk on the bike is going too hard and completely blowing out your legs so that by the time you get to the run you've got nothing left. I was very conscious of this so played it conservatively. One of the hills on the course is known as Heartbreak Hill and is the last "big" one coming back into Taupo, and it's one that I'd heard a lot of stories about...but I soon found out that the reality is no where near as bad as the legend suggested and before I knew it I was over it and on the downward ride into Taupo.

Coming back into Taupo the first time was a great feeling as the spectators who were braving the conditions really spurred me on. The return leg from Reporoa had only taken 1 hour 30 minutes, and heading out of Taupo again towards Reporoa for the second time I was feeling fantastic.This feeling continued until about 15kms from Reporoa when the wind (which was a head-wind again) decided to increase in velocity and combined with the driving rain made for very unpleasant conditions. I again thanked my lucky stars for my choice of wearing the 2nd cycling top as I saw a lot of cold athletes who were shivering in just a single layer.

Turning at Reporoa for the second and final time, the total time on the bike was just over 5 hours and it was time to change my eating & drinking habits. Up to that point I had been using a mixture of liquids, gels, and solid food however in order to make sure I avoided any stomach upsets during the run leg I switched to just using liquids & gels - and I now introduced flat coke as well for the instant sugar fix. Up and over Heartbreak Hill for the final time and I was still feeling mentally & physically OK - although not as good as I had felt 90km earlier - and just after 3.15pm I entered the transition area to complete the bike leg. (To put some context on how good the elite guys are, the overall Ironman winner Cameron Brown had just finished the whole event just as I was getting off the bike!)
Bike time - 06:39:36
Total time to that point - 08:08:42

Run leg - 42.2km
Getting off the bike after 180km felt very good and my legs were in pretty good shape, but I knew that the run leg is the leg that gets people. The run course is a 2 x 21km lap course from Taupo Domain to 5 Mile Bay and like the bike course is considered undulating. None of the hills would bother me on a normal day, but Ironman is different...

After coming out of transition in just under 7 minutes, I started off at a gentle pace just to ease my legs into it. The advice I'd been given was to take it easy for the first 5-7kms and then assess how things were after that. Running down the Lake Terrace, I got a surprise to see "Team Orange" standing on a stage that was reserved for the entertainment...the rain was still coming down and it was the only place to keep dry. Seeing them lifted me and I sailed through the first 10.5km in just over 1 hour 4 minutes - which wasn't too far off normal pace for me. Unfortunately that pace wouldn't last.

Coming back from 5 Mile Bay, I started to get sharp pains in my lower stomach and they got worse the more I ran. It felt like a pulled muscle or something along those lines as it was very intense and localised pain. However if I walked then the pain wasn't as bad so for a fair percentage of the way back to Taupo to complete the first lap I walked - I did run some of the way but it was only in very short bursts. This wasn't ideal but could have been a lot worse. I trotted back into Taupo to complete the first lap in just over 2 hours 30 minutes, and turned around to go back to 5 Mile Bay...this time wearing a very fetching yellow poncho to attempt to keep me dry!

It was at about the 25km mark that I started to be able to run for longer periods and found that the pain had pretty much gone away - and it was also a good way to keep warm as by that stage it was after 6pm so it was starting to cool down. By this time my stomach had had enough of energy gels, electrolyte drink, and flat coke so I started eating orange segments and found that they had a great effect on me so I continued to eat them for the remainder of the day. Bodywise at this point apart from the earlier stomach pains, I was feeling fine and didn't have any doubt that I would finish - and at that point I started to think about what my finish time might be. I had given "Team Orange" an estimated time of where I would be at certain parts of the day with a finish time of between 14 hours & 14 hours 45 minutes, but I had found that the more oranges I ate my running pace was quickening instead of slowing down - meaning that I was on track to finish a lot quicker than I anticipated.

When I turned around at 5 Mile Bay for the second and final time I knew the end was in sight - only 10.5km away. My running cadence was still going well and unbelievably the rain eased up...for about 10 minutes anyway! As it was now after 7.30pm I was given a yellow glowstick to go along with my fashionable yellow poncho...so I looked a real treat!! Mentally on that final leg I got my biggest lift coming out of Rainbow Point - which was about 5km from the finish - as I knew at that point there were no more hills and it was all down hill to the finish. My speed really picked up from that point on and it felt like I was positively sprinting...in reality I probably wasn't but after 13 hours on the go it sure felt like it! Running down Lake Terrace by the lake, it felt like my feet weren't touching the ground and I was feeling brilliant - I was still getting cheered on by the hardy spectators who had stayed out after dark (as it now was!). Turning into Tongariro Street, I ditched my poncho & glowstick as (call me vain) I didn't want the photo's at the finish line to be of me wearing those. I saw Rochelle in the crowd as I ran down Tongariro and that thrilled me immensely that she was going to see me finish. I continued down Tongariro, turned left into Taupo Domain and enter the finishing chute...and there was the finish line! I can remember having the biggest grin on my face running down the chute as the people were cheering me on, a high 5 for G who was in the crowd, a high 5 for some random person, and then across the finish line with the voice of Ironman Mike Reilly saying "You're an Ironman, Aaron!".
Run time - 05:12:03
Total Ironman time- 13:27:38

Immediately afterwards, I went into the finishers tent with my medal & my towel across my shoulders. I had some of the best soup I had ever tasted, got the obligatory post event massage, and chatted to other finishers - some first timers like me, others who had been there done that before. About an hour afterwards, I came out to see "Team Orange"...and I then went to McDonalds for a Quarter Pounder & fries! And it tasted outstanding!

So what's next?
That is a question I have been asked a lot post Ironman as once you reach a peak like Ironman, what else can offer the same challenge? I did go through what is known as the Ironman blues which I hear is a fairly common occurance - it basically feels like a relationship break up (not to be too dramatic) as there is a real sense of emptiness after putting so much time & effort into something like Ironman. I soon got over that...

So what's next...the answer to that question is my family! I could not have achieved what I did in Ironman without the immeasurable support of them - and it is now well overdue that I spend some time with them. I will still continue to do the odd event but for at least the next few years it won't be anything as big as Ironman.

Would I do Ironman again...absolutely! The mantra I repeated to myself over & over during that day was to enjoy it and I really did enjoy it. I do see myself doing Ironman NZ again in the future and hopefully I will have as much fun as I did this time around.

The End...for now. Thanks for being part of the journey!

The journey of my "Midlife Crisis!"...part 4

So the first thing I did once the cast had come off was to enter the Auckland quarter marathon again - 2 years after I had done it for the first time. I did this because I needed an instant gauge of how much my base fitness had decreased with my 6 week layoff and I knew that with that event only being just over 10km that even if I struggled, I would be able get through it. So with 6 training runs under my belt, I was on the start line just over 2 weeks after the cast had come off.

Auckland Quarter marathon (10.55km)
31 October 2010
Target time: I would have been happy with doing it in just over an hour
Actual time: 00:53:58

I was surprised at the time! Yes the last couple of kms were tough but overall it was a good blow out and showed that whilst I still had a bit of work to do, the base was still there. The only downside to the event was the hideous yellow shirt that came as part of the entry...and when I say hideous I mean it!!

My plan to tackle Ironman involved using a training plan that I had sourced from Peter. It was a 24 week plan however because of the 6 week layoff for my wrist I had to trim 4 weeks off the plan to bring it down to 20 weeks. Anyone who knows me well wouldn't be surprised that I had this plan entered into Excel and had added in all sorts of pretty graphs and stats in order to keep track of my progress over the course of the 20 weeks. The plan involved at least 3 workouts (or 4 in some weeks) for each discipline per week so it was not uncommon for me to be out the door 2-3 times per week at 5.30am to be down at the pool, and to be on the bike late into the evening. The weekends were also pretty taxing as those days were when the long distance training could be done - that is on the bike for 3+ hours one day, then a long run of up to 2 hours on the other. There was also the long swim which had to be fitted in on one of the weekend days and that was usually done at Kohimarama Beach in the wetsuit - I chose Kohi as there are a series of buoys in the water which are great guides to track distance. So as you can imagine, given the amount of time I was training it meant that time with the family went down and at times that was very hard on both me but also them. Ironman is a very selfish sport and it was something that I didn't fully appreciate until I was immersed in training.

The other aspect of Ironman training to consider was the nutrition side of things. Lots of carbs & protein and cutting back on fatty foods. I had to go back to being very regimented in what I was eating and when - and it meant that alcohol was given the flick for a while. I also had to experiment with what I was going to eat/drink during Ironman itself as that is a key element of getting through the day - they call it the 4th discipline. So it was not uncommon for me to go out for my training rides/runs with banana's, energy gels, jet planes, and other assorted liquid refreshments - all with the aim of understanding what my body reacted well to. There is a saying that you shouldn't do anything on event day that you haven't tried in training and in terms of food & drink this is vitally important because if you get this aspect wrong, it turns out to be a very long and tough day!

I also needed to do some lead up events to Ironman so that I could put into use what I had tried in training. There is a school of thought that says you should do a Half Ironman about 8-10 weeks prior to Ironman, however there is only one event that comes in that time frame and it sold out months in advance. So instead I decided to do some smaller events - a standard distance triathlon, a longer distance cycle event, and a couple of ocean swim events. These were timed to be a gauge of how my training was progressing at that time and were very useful.

First up - a triathlon at Mission Bay:

Peoples Triathlon Mission Bay (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run)
05 December 2010
Target time - 3:00:00
Actual time - 2:44:54

Perfect weather conditions and a good hit out after only being out of the plaster cast for 6 weeks.

It was from this point that the training workouts started getting progressively longer and harder. Probably a good example of this was New Years day which found me on a 100km bike ride early in the morning when most normal people would probably be still recovering from the events of the night before. This was very much the trend from January onwards with rides of 80-130km being the norm along with runs of up to 21km - and sometimes these workouts were back to back on the same day. Another aspect of Ironman is that your social life goes flying out the window...

Tour de Ranges cycling event (110km)
22 January 2011
Target time: 4:00:00
Actual time: depends who you believe - official results 4:05:34. My cycle computer 03:56:25

This was a nice ride - starting & finishing in Clevedon and going around the Hunua Ranges. A fairly hilly course but some great views. The reason for the difference between official time & my cycle computer time was that I had to stop twice to make running repairs to the bike.

Come February 5, my training plan had me down to do a ride of 150km but Isaac decided that he wanted to come into the world early so instead February 5 found me at Birthcare in Parnell welcoming the latest addition to the Fern family into the world. And I didn't mind one little bit!! And something amazing happened as a result of that...for a whole week, Ironman was not my main focus! That may sound like an odd thing to say but from where I stood, Ironman had been an all consuming part of my life for a long time so to have something else to focus on for a few days was very good for me mentally.

With Isaac's arrival, it signalled a change in my training approach with the really long workouts replaced with shorter more intense stuff. The last few weeks prior to a big event are known as the taper and this is where the training volume decreases so that come race day you're in top form. I entered an 11km run the week before Ironman as a final tune up (successfully completed) and before I knew it, it was March 3 and we were off to Taupo.

Ironman New Zealand was less than 48 hours away...

The journey of my "Midlife Crisis!"...part 3

So after the decision was made to put off Ironman for 12 months, I needed to find something to fill the gap that would still progress me along the path to the ultimate goal. It also had to be something that was significantly cheaper than Ironman to work in with the new reduced budget. After some digging I found the perfect event - being the Auckland Half Ironman based out of Kawakawa Bay. It would take place on 20 March 2010 meaning that the training I had been doing up until that point wouldn't have been wasted.At the same time, I entered the 2010 Rotorua Marathon for a second time as I had really enjoyed the event and I also wanted to see if I could break the four hour barrier.

People asked me at the time if it was hard to put off Ironman for a year and being truthful yeah I was disappointed as when I started on this journey I had 2010 fixed in my mind as the date for completion. But that said it was a joint decision and I totally understood and supported it. I was not going to be selfish and spend a considerable amount of money on something that could be easily used for something more practical and as R said the event wasn't going anywhere. She's a wise woman is my wife...

To partially compensate for not competing in Ironman 2010, G & I decided to go to Taupo anyway for Ironman weekend solely to enjoy the event and partake in the atmosphere. I'd been in his ear about what a great event it was after my spectating experience in 2008 and he was keen to come along to see it first hand. It was also a good opportunity for me - as part of my training for the Auckland Half Ironman - to run the actual Ironman course in Taupo in preparation for when I was going to participate in 2011. (great forward planning on my part!) So once again, I was on the shores of Lake Taupo before dawn watching the 1300 athletes taking off for a very long day. And once again, I had a really great day which reaffirmed my decision that I had to take part in this event.We stuck it out until the end and can lay claim to seeing every single person finish the course - from #1at 3pm through to #1300 just before midnight.

And then it was my turn...2 weeks later I was on the beach at Maraetai in Auckland contemplating the day ahead.

Auckland Half Ironman (2km swim, 90km bike, 21km run)
Maraetai Beach /  Kawakawa Bay
20 March 2010
Target Time - target was completion. Although I had a feeling if I did it right, it would be around 6 hours
Actual Time - 6:38:36

Weather was just right for this event with the sun out, not much wind, and the temperature about right for late summar. I came out of the swim 5 minutes ahead of my predicted time and I felt very good on the bike for the first 60km however from there started getting tricky as I ran out of water...which is a cardinal sin! Luckily they were giving out water bottles at the 65km mark so I quickly downed a bottle and carried on to the end of the bike. I was off the bike and starting the run just after the 4 hour mark meaning that a total time of 6 hours was very much on the cards, however after the first 3kms of the run I started getting stomach cramps and had to walk a fair bit of the first 10km. But I soldiered on and got to the finish with enough energy to jump over the finish line in an exaggerated fashion! And what topped it off was that Nathan & Riley were there to meet me...

Doing some digging post event, I figured out that the stomach cramps on the run was probably caused by me gunning down the bottle of water on the bike as it caused me to overhydrate. (There is a technical name for it but its got too many letters!) Another lesson learned...

So another tick in the box on the way to Ironman, and it was a fairly short turnaround until the next event - the Rotorua marathon 6 weeks later. I knew going into Rotorua that I was probably underdone in terms of specific running training and my longest training run was just over 21km - which was even less than what I'd done in 2009. I was banking on the endurance built up with training for the Half Ironman to get me through however I decided to take the pressure off myself and to forget about target times and purely do Rotorua for enjoyment. And to go along with that thought pattern I nearly didn't run marathon with a watch on...I said nearly as in the end I did run with a watch. I couldn't resist!

Rotorua Marathon 2010 (42.2km)
01 May 2010
Target Time: being honest, the only time I wanted to beat was my 2009 time (4h28)
Actual Time: 4.07.38

That I beat my previous time by 21 minutes by doing less training proved that if you train smarter, you don't necessarily need to train longer. Again, I had a really enjoyable day and I felt a greater sense of achievement in completing this marathon compared to 2009 because it showed that I was improving all the time and I knew in my mind that there was more still to come - that's because I'm a competitve sod!

After Rotorua, I did nothing for 3 months! And when I say nothing, I meant nothing! No running, no biking, no swimming...and it was good to do this!! The reason for this was that I'd been training and competing in events for almost 2 years solid and I felt that the time was right to take a decent break ahead of the intense training that would come ahead of Ironman - both physically and mentally. So I kicked back, spent a lot of time with the family, threw all the rules out the window in terms of eating & drinking, and basically became a "normal" person again!

Over those 3 months, there were 2 events of note and both occurred in mid-May.  The first was I officially entered Ironman 2011! Signed up, paid the hefty entry fee, and committed to the biggest challenge of my life! I was forced to make the decision to enter that early because for the first time ever, the event was going to sell out - the total number of entries is capped at 1500 and the most it had ever reached previously was 1300. However with an increase in interest from overseas, I had to enter early otherwise wait another year to do it...and there was no way I was going to do that! So I entered and I picked the right time to do it as 2 days later the event was fully sold out! Now there was no turning back...

The second event was that I discovered I was going to be a dad for the third time, with baby due in mid-February 2011. I was stoked but also a little concerned as baby was due 2 weeks before Ironman on 20 February...which in baby speak means that be 2 weeks either side of that date! (Luckily Isaac played ball and came 2 weeks early...)

So after my 3 month break I took the first steps towards Ironman by starting off with some short runs & bike rides. I soon learnt that even though I had been in great shape in May, it doesn't take long to lose that as by August I was stuggling on those very first runs. I had expected that so according to the plan I was following, the first month was going to be very easy as a means to ease my way back into it. And things tracking nicely until...

04 September 2010
It's a day that will doubly stand out for me as not only was it the day of the first big earthquake in Christchurch (I was born there so it was significant for me!) but it was also the day that the Ironman dream nearly got derailed permanently. This was the day that I got knocked off my bike and ended up with a broken right wrist. How this happened was that I was on a training ride around Clevedon in south Auckland and I was about 5km from finishing when as I was going through a roundabout I got clipped by a young fella in a souped up car who thought he could get through the roundabout ahead of me. (I did have the right of way). Next thing I knew I was flying, landed on my right wrist and slid along the road for a bit. There were a lot of people around to help me (a doctor, and off duty police detective) and I was soon in the back of an ambulance on my way to hospital. At first I didn't think it was too serious as nothing really hurt but the more time went on, my wrist started hurting a hell of a lot. Again I didn't think it was too serious as I could fully move all of my fingers so I was very surprised when they said it was broken and I possibly might have to have surgery. So after a night in hospital, I got the good news that no surgery was needed and my wrist would be in plaster for 6 weeks.

Now in the grand scheme of Ironman, taking 6 weeks out of my training schedule wasn't the end of the world as I was lucky (if I can use that word) the accident occurred when it did. If it had happened in November or December then it would have been a big deal, but as it happened in September I could afford the time off and not impact on my training plan too much. I would however need to get a new bike as my other one was totalled as a result of the accident, so a lot of time was spent on TradeMe over my enforced layoff.

Those 6 weeks dragged by and by the end of it I was itching to get out and do some exercise. I was driving R nuts being a passenger in the car when she drove me to work in the mornings, and I wasn't able to help out much with the boys. Working & sleeping was also difficult with a heavy plaster cast on but I slowly adjusted to it and I had been told that I would probably need physio on my wrist after the cast had come off. And so on October 15, the plaster came off! And to say I was happy was an understatement...a big one!

It also meant that training could resume for Ironman - albeit it slowly. I had purchased a new bike the week before and was itching to get out on it to give it a whirl.

The 20 week countdown to Ironman was on...

The journey of my "Midlife Crisis!"...part 2

Anyway a week after the 2009 Rotorua Marathon, I bought a bike. Off TradeMe and definitely not top of the line but as a starting point it was a good one. It had 2 wheels, a seat, 27 gears, and some carbon in it meaning it was pretty light. And it looked cool...haha!

Why so soon after the marathon? Well in my mind there was no need to muck around as the clock was ticking towards Ironman and as a vehicle for recovering after the marathon, jumping on a bike is a pretty good one as it's low impact on joints and keeps things moving. And in keeping with my way of entering events to stay motivated, I entered a couple of minor ones - a duathlon in Auckland in late June 09 and a cycle event around Cambridge in August. I picked these events as they eased me into using the bike as since my initial foray onto a bike back in August 08, I hadn't gone near one as I had focussed solely on running.

The duathlon in particular interested me as it was my first dipping of the toe into the water of multisport events. A standard duathlon is a run/bike/run and this one was fairly short - run 5km, bike 20km, run 2.5km. In my mind with all of the running training I'd done over the previous 9 months, I could get away with doing minimal run training and instead of focussing on getting used to riding a bike for longer periods. Strategy worked fairly well and on race day I'd only been for 4 training runs...which isn't much considering the marathon had been 8 weeks earlier!

Contact Duathlon Series Auckland (5km run, 20km bike, 2.5km run)
28 June 2009
Target Time - no idea whatsoever!
Actual time - 1.15.44
Body weight - no idea. I gave up counting after the Rotorua marathon

In what must have been an omen for my Ironman day, it chucked it down with rain that day! Not just showers but full on rain & wind...but I still really enjoyed it. That I came last in my age group (and overall there were only 6 people behind me) didn't bother me in the slightest.

After that, the running shoes were well and truly put away and weren't really touched for about 8 weeks as the focus really shifted to the bike. As I had done a lot of biking when I was younger, I was very comfortable in the saddle and didn't mind riding during the wind & rain early in the mornings - remembering that it was the middle of winter at that time. What amazed me was that when the conditions were at their worst, there were a ton of other nutters out there doing the same thing as me! I thought I was the only crazy one...

So onto Cambridge one weekend in mid-August for my first cycling event. Riding by yourself on the roads is one thing but it is something else to ride in a big bunch and as this was my first time doing that I was a bit nervous...OK quite a lot nervous. Reason for the nerves is that when you're in a group like that you always have to be watching what's going on around you as one slip could mean a lot of riders come off their bikes. There's also a certain etiquette about bunchriding like making sure you take your turn riding at the front - being at the front means you get hammered by the wind first and have to work harder whilst others behind you get an easier ride. In the end it's a quick learning curve and after a while you learn to relax and enjoy it!

Wakaroc Winter Ride Series - race 2 Cambridge (70km)
16 August 2009
Target time - honestly no idea however had between 2.45-3 hours in my mind
Actual time - officially...did not finish!

If I learnt anything from the ride was that riding in bunches really does make you go faster as for the first 56 kms, I was gunning it and on target for a finish time around 2.20hrs...but then I heard the sound that all cyclists dread which was air escaping from my tire as I ran over a piece of glass. It was also then I discovered that you need a decent pump as the one I had would not inflate my replacement tube. So without a means to pump my tire up, I had to sit on the side of the road and wait for the van that follows tail end charlie to come pick me up. Not impressed at all...and the first thing I did the following weekend was go out and buy a decent pump that worked!!

Post the race, I immediately entered the Lake Taupo cycle challenge at the end of November. Much in the same vein as the marathon in Rotorua, the Taupo cycle challenge offered the chance to really test whether I could cope with the demands of the Ironman bike leg. The distance was 160km and the course was pretty tough with a lot of hills for the first 100km and then the mother of all hills after 130km. It was also around this time that I was first told about a Half Ironman event in Cambridge in mid-November - 2 weeks before the Taupo cycle challenge. Doing a Half Ironman is a natural stepping stone to the full Ironman however what concerned me was the timing of the event to the Taupo cycle - which was my main focus - so I decided that I would do the Half Ironman in a team with me doing the swim & bike, and Roger doing the run. That way I could get a good feel for the Half Ironman but not destroy my legs totally prior to the Taupo event.

To really add to the busy schedule, I entered the Onehunga Half marathon at the end of September. With Ironman less than 7 months away, I was now having to not solely focus on one discipline but had to start mixing the training up to include all elements. This meant getting up at 5am and going swimming in the mornings at the Olympic Pools prior to work 2 mornings a week, and alternating to either run or bike during my lunch breaks at work. Then on the weekends I had to do a longish run and a longish bike ride...so yes it was becoming time consuming. But the results were showing...

Onehunga Half Marathon (21.1km)
27 September 2009
Target time - 1.53.18 (previous PB)
Actual time - 1.41.01 (new PB)

Shaving 12 minutes off your personal best doesn't happen that often so I was understandably very happy. It helps when you have a dead flat course and someone running with you who can help push you along (thanks Peter).

One of the key drivers throughout all of this was the satisfaction I felt when I reached mini targets. Running the PB in the Onehunga Half was one, the first time I swam 1km without stopping was another. It even got the stage that I was taking days off work so that I could cycle from Maramarua to Cambridge (115km) just so that I could say I had cycled over 100km for the first time! But it's these little things that keep you sane and keep you going because there are also bad days when you feel like nothing goes right or you're out there running and you feel like rubbish! The good/bad days are all part and parcel of putting yourself through this type of thing...and was in full evidence during the Karapiro Half Ironman.

Karapiro Half Ironman 2km swim, 90km bike, 21km run (I was only doing swim & run)
14 November 2009
Total team time - 6.09.48 (first in our age group so we got a medal...OK we were the only team in our group)
My times - 4.51.06

It was a bad day at the office...no other words for it. What didn't help matters was that on the Monday & Tuesday prior to the event, I was in bed with a vomitting bug meaning I wasn't eating and definintely not training. The lack of training I could probably get away with but the not eating will cause issues as one of the key components of doing an endurance event is making sure that the week prior to the event that you're eating things to help you ge through the event - lots of carbs specifically! Because I didn't eat anything for 2 days, I really paid for it on the Saturday. I got through the swim OK however when I got onto the bike there was no energy in the legs and it was a struggle. And to top it all off, I punctured about 10km from the bike finish...I think someone was telling me not to do any more events in Cambridge!! Luckily my pump worked this time and i was able to get moving pretty quickly. Probably the only positive I took away from the day was that even when I was really struggling, I knew in my mind that I was always going to complete it which showed me that the mental toughness was there.

Having such a bad day at Karapiro made me more determined to have a great day at the Taupo cycle challenge. Peter decided fairly late on that he was going to enter to keep me company and G came up from Wellington to cheer us on. So on the last Saturday in November, I lined up with 10,000 other cyclists for the biggest cycling event in the Southern Hemisphere.


Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge (160km)
28 November 2009
Target time - 6.00.00
Actual time - 5.41.39

Well...it was a great day! Weather conditions were perfect (drizzle and no wind) and I really enjoyed myself...although going up Hatepe Hill was tough and there were a few words spoken under my breath that can't be repeated here! I spent most of the ride in several bunches which meant that I was able to go for faster longer than I would have if I'd been by myself - however after Hatepe I was pretty much by myself until the finish. But I was very happy at the end to finish the distance and know that I could carry on for the extra 20km that would make up the Ironman bike distance - which again comes back to the mental side of Ironman. Remove the mental doubt about whether you can do the distance and you go a long way to reaching the goal of completing it.

Natually after Taupo I was very keen and ready to push on for Ironman - which was a little over 3 months later in March 2010. I hadn't entered at that stage as I wanted to be absolutely sure I could do it before I paid the substantial entry fee...over $750.00. After completing the Taupo cycle challenge, I was then in a position to say that I could do it so was ready to enter. However something occurred that I hadn't planned on with R being made redundant from her job with HRG/APX. Suddenly without the second income coming in, spending that amount of money to Ironman became a very low priority. So we both made the joint decision that I wouldn't be doing Ironman 2010 and would delay it for 12 months and instead do Ironman 2011.

Hindsight is a great thing...and with hindsight it turned out to be a very good decision!

The journey of my "Midlife Crisis!"...part 1

Having recently completed Ironman New Zealand, the question has been asked of me a lot of why I did it? What would drive me to attempt something that I had shown precisely zero interest in doing in the past? I vaguely knew about the Ironman in as much as that I knew there was a big race in Hawaii each year that was a big deal (the World Champs).
Having contemplated the question, I have come to the conclusion that this is a story that I should put into words - as it has been the all encompassing goal of mine for the past 3 years. And who knows it might inspire other people to step outside their comfort zone.

You hear countless stories of how people have accomplished major feats having shed a pile of weight so in that regard my story isn't unique...except for one thing. For a change it was me actually doing this and not just reading about it! And it is for that reason that I value this achievement so highly!

What is Ironman?
You tell people you're aiming for Ironman and the vast majority of them look at you and immediately think you're a body builder and wouldn't think of it as the longest endurance triathlon there is.

The specifics of it:
Swim - 3.8km
Bike - 180km
Run - 42.2km (the full marathon distance)

And all of this has to be achived in one day inside a 17 hour time limit. Sounds easy! haha

So, as with all stories, there is a beginning. And this is how mine began.

Taupo - March 2008

I find myself in Taupo on the first weekend in March to support my mate Hayden's brother who was entered into this event and had a shot at a decent time. Now I have to admit that my initial motivation for going was that it was a lads weekend away so a good opportunity to get on the lash (leaving pregnant wife & son at home) - as evidenced on the Friday night. But in the spirit of the weekend, I was down on the shores of Lake Taupo early Saturday morning to watch the mass start in the swim. What followed over the next 17 hours was a lot of standing around in the rain, positioning ourselves in good viewing spots to watch Bevan fly past. And as the day grew longer, the rain eased off and we found ourselves down at the finish line just after 10pm to watch the finishers coming in. (Bevan finished in just over 9 hours). The more I stood there, the more impressed I became with the types of people I was seeing finish as I was seeing all shapes, sizes, and ages crossing the line. I had it in my mind that with this sort of event, I would only see absolutely skinny uber-athletes with negative percentage body fat finishing however this couldn't be further from the truth. What stood out most for me was the image of a lady in her 50's struggling to finish - struggling so much that she could only walk 100 metres at a time before having to stop to rest because her body couldn't go on. It was past the midnight cut off so she was officially a non-finisher however it was the determination she showed to get to the line irrespective that inspired me to think...if she could do it, why can't I??

So I left Taupo with a new appreciation for the strength of human spirit and some vague thought about why didn't I give it a go. And that's how it stayed as a vague thought for quite some time because for the next 5 months, nothing changed. Part of me thought that it would be great to do but most of me was too lazy to get off my butt and do anything about it. I'd had these wild thoughts in the past and they'd passed however this one refused to go away and kept on nagging at me.

So on 21 August 2008, I decided to get on a bike and go for a ride. Not a long one (only 5km) but more than I had done on a bike for a long time. And I enjoyed it - so much that I did it again the next day. And then again on the weekend. And then the following week I decided to take the bike to work so that I could ride during my lunch break - a 13km circuit to Mission Bay. And this continued for several weeks and I really enjoyed it as it gave me a good distraction from work. Then I bought my first pair of running shoes.

It was this purchase that really solidifed in my mind that I was going to change my ways and get fit as spending the sum I did was a committment in my mind that I had to do it in order to justify the cost! I remember the guy behind the counter smiling when I said I was going to go out running tomorrow- as I'm sure he'd heard it all before from people of similar size to me. (And he was right as I didn't go out the next day...hey it was raining!).

So the journey began...

First run day - 15 September 2008.
Distance - 2.6km
Number of times I stopped - 3 times
Time taken - around 18 minutes
Body Weight - 107kg

They say that all journey's start with a small step and my one was fairly inauspicious, but the main thing was that it didn't deter me from keeping on doing it. I knew that I would have to drop a significant amount of weight in order to achieve what I wanted, so I adopted a smarter eating regime of cutting down portion sizes as opposed to cutting out foods completely - although unconsciously I cut back on the bad things. I knew that the changed eating habits along with the increased exercise would give me the desired result and in order to track that I started a spreadsheet that tracked my weight loss on a week by week basis. Having the results shown graphically was a great motivation for me as I always wanted to see that line keep going down so it made me eat healthily.

I had a 2 year plan to attempt Ironman NZ in 2010 but I knew that in order to maintain the motivation that I would have to have smaller targets over the intervening time to focus on. As Ironman is also a big mental thing, I had to be sure in my own mind that I could physically do the distances required. The  biggest unknown for me was running so my initial focus was on pounding the pavements - which also has the dual effect of being the best way to lose weight. My initial target was the Auckland Quarter Marathon (10.55km) in early November so I gradually increased my mileage from my initial distance to a point where my longest run prior to the event was 8 km. What complicated things was that 3 weeks prior I strained my calf muscle which meant I couldn't do much running for a week. But I got there...

Auckland Quarter Marathon (10.55km)

 2 November 2008
Target time - 1:00:00
Actual Time - 1:01:26
Body weight - 98kg

I came away from the event feeling both elated that I'd finished and slightly disappointed that I'd not gone under my target time of 1 hour - which is my competitive nature coming out. The overriding feeling was "great...what's the next event!"  This is commonly known as the runners high and showed that I was hooked!!

So hooked that the week after the Auckland Quarter Marathon I entered the 2009 Rotorua Marathon ...that is the full noise of 42.2km. My rationale for doing this was fairly sound (I thought) in that if I entered an event 7 months out from it, the fact that I'd paid my money would mean the motivation would not waver. Well I hoped...

Training continued over Christmas and into the New Year (2009) with the volume and length of runs getting higher. Training over the festive season was hard as it was difficult to resist the food...and beer...and more food...but I was able to relax my eatting a little as long as I kept the training volume up. Before I knew it, my next challenge was before me - my first half marathon.

Cathay Pacific Half Marathon (21.1km)
22 February 2009
Target time - 2:00:00

Actual Time - 1:53:18
Body weight - 85kg

That I completed this event 7 minutes under target gave me a great boost. But I also came away knowing that in order for me to complete Rotorua 10 weeks later, a lot more hard work was needed. I say that because I got to the end and I was spent...I could not have gone on much further. So over those 10 weeks, I aimed to do several runs up to a maximum 35km in length in order to get used to the distance...unfortunately the best laid plans don't ways come together and this was the case for me. Not helped by me whacking my knee into a door frame, the longest run I was able to achieve was 25km in length - which I wasn't sure would be long enough. And so it transpired on marathon day...

Rotorua Marathon (42.2km)
02 May 2009
Target time - 4:00:00 (not a hard & fast target...first aim was to finish)

Actual Time - 4:28:09
Body weight - 79kg

For the first half of the run, I felt really good. The first 21km were completed in a time similar to my time in the Cathay Half (1.54) but the second half is where it really started to hurt - especially from the 26km mark. This is where the second of the 2 big hills on the course starts and unlike the first one which is short and sharp, this one is long and gradual and after you've run that far already it hurts! The result of that was that from 26km onwards I was walking a fair bit and it was at this point where the lack of really long training runs showed. I ran the last 3km (39-42km) as I was determined not to walk across the line and when I reached the finish chute it was great feeling of elation...and I got to carry N across the finish line! Suffice to say that the body was sore the next day, but the sense of achievement was very much there - going from no running to marathon finisher in 9 months was a big achievement!

And with that, part one of the "mental" training was done. I now knew I could run the marathon distance...next thing I needed to do was to buy a bike!!

And that's the next chapter...