Here it is. The last blog. Well, until the race report, which (hopefully) will be the best instalment of them all!!
But before I get ahead of myself, I’ll give a brief run – through of the past week, and endeavour to share some of my pre-race goals, hopes and dreams!!
What a week. The monster 25 hour weeks I racked up recently were a breeze in many ways compared to this week, but I can’t say I haven’t relished every second of every drama that unfolded this week!
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| My last ride before leaving for Hawaii |
Training. Well it doesn’t really warrant much of a mention!!! I’m tapering fully now, so sessions have been shorter than normal (about 2/3 normal volume) and only limited quality. Kristy left Airlie beach on Sunday, Sean and I were travelling Monday, so we did some 500m builds during Monday’s ride. Tuesday I did a normal swim squad session, which went really well, and a run- fartlek session in which I flew. (A note on the “coming full circle” aspect of that session later). On Wednesday I had a great ride with the club down Beach Rd. It was warm and windy, so perfect Kona training. Wednesday night we were travelling, and since we would be crossing the dateline, the next scheduled session was to be a recovery swim in Hawaii 36hrs later (but still officially on Thursday!!)
As usual I had been super – organised and had already scheduled a massage in Kona on Thursday, plus a service for my bike, ready for my ride on the Queen K on Saturday.
Well….Best laid plans and all that jazz. Those of you on Facebook know what happened next, but for those that aren’t -
One of those freak spring storms hit Melbourne on Wednesday afternoon/evening. Carnage. The Royal Melbourne Show was fully evacuated, lightening struck all over the place, and the ground crew at the airport were not allowed onto the tarmac to unload or reload planes for safety reasons. Our 17.30 flight to Auckland was delayed. And delayed. And delayed. And then at 22.30 cancelled. We were told we would be repatriated and flown out the next morning. But no way would we make the Honolulu flight. It was pointless picking our bags up, leaving and returning for a 6am check in, so we stayed at gate 10 overnight with half a plane full of Kiwis!! By this stage, “super manager” Pete had already spoken to Air New Zealand (who were brilliant I might add) and rescheduled our Honolulu flights to Saturday. I managed to rebook the Novotel at Auckland airport. (Pretty lucky with the Rugby World Cup in full swing!) Kristy and Dan were also delayed, but they were flying via Sydney, so only lost 1 day.
So why did I enjoy all this? Well ok, sleep deprivation DOES tend to curb your sense of humour a little, but while I was at Airlie Beach, my overwhelming feelings of nerves and a little dread about the race had evolved into that wonderful feeling as you go into the taper of excitement and anticipation, but also the resolve to absolutely soak up the final 2 weeks and just relish every moment, good and “bad”. So all of a sudden, a situation, which with a different frame of mind could seem awful, actually becomes a bit of an adventure. We got to spend more time relaxing between flights, but got to a pool and had a gym, so we managed to keep our taper sessions going.
We finally flew to Honolulu on Saturday, 2 days late and after 3 hrs sleep at Honolulu we hopped over to Kona, and arrived at 6.30 am Saturday morning. Exactly the time that the pro triathletes will start 7 days later. (Age groupers start at 7am). We got a taxi to our accommodation, which is absolutely massive and lovely! Then assembled the bikes, and headed out for my first taste of the Lava fields on the Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway. Amazing. Words can’t describe the feeling of cruising along, nodding (and being nodded back by!) amazingly fit looking triathletes. The lava fields are a sight to behold, and the view across to Hawi, where the bike turnaround is, breathtaking. Sean and I did a jog off the bike, and he took me down to Alii drive and along to where the finish line will be. I had to fight back the emotions. (Save them for the real finish!). We capped off an amazing day with a short swim along the buoys from “Dig Me” beach.
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| On the Queen K Highway |
I CAN’T WAIT to be out there in 7 days, savouring every moment, good and bad.
So on to the nitty gritty of the race and my goals, aspirations, dreams.
I set some targets for myself almost as soon as I returned to training 12 weeks ago. These were deliberately set as soon as possible after the race in France, while my confidence was at its highest. My “ideal” race would go like this:-
Swim = sub 1hr 15. I swam 1.08 at France, in a wetsuit. I know that I am likely to be slower at Kona, but hopefully if I can stay on some feet, 1.15 should be comfortable.
Bike = 5.50. With a 5.49 at France, on a bike course with 2000m of climbing, I felt that 5.50 was a realistic target.
Run = 3.45. At the time that I set these targets, I felt that this one may be the hardest to achieve. With the legendary heat at Kona, if anything was going to give, I felt it would be the run.
Transitions – approx 5min total.
Overall target time = Sub 11 hours
I also set myself “acceptable” targets – those times that I would still be happy with. Honestly, I believe that now that I have done all that I wanted to do in training, the “acceptable” targets are no longer relevant, but if things do go awry, it is good to be able to aim for “target number 2, or 3 etc”.
I have also re – evaluated my bike leg in recent weeks, and realise that if I struggle into the headwind, it could affect my bike time by a lot, not to mention the potential knock - on effect on my run. So on reflection, my “acceptable” targets are likely to be
Swim = sub 1.20
Bike = sub 6.20
Run = sub 4.00
Total time = sub 11.50 (still faster than S. Africa!!)
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not having a confidence crisis, or refusing to back myself, it’s just that I am acutely aware of how the heat (and BOY was it hot today) , humidity and wind can affect your race out here. I will do everything I can to repeat my “perfect race” in France, and if I do…… Who knows? But if I don’t ….Guess what? I will not stop going forward until I cross that line, with a huge smile and no doubt some tears of joy. This is Hawaii, and I am racing the Hawaii Ironman World Championship. What a life.
A note on the “full circle” comment.
I started running in 2004, with Kristen Hennessy, one of my dearest, dearest friends. Now she is in Boston and I miss her terribly. She had already run a Boston marathon when I met her, and I looked at her running with awe. In the early days we used to run from the vet school at Melbourne Uni , round Princes Park, and back. A total of about 5km. I could barely make it. She would be talking me through the final kilometre, just to nurse me home.
I ran my first 5km fun run there about 1 year later, 20 min 50, far better than I’d hoped for.
In 2008 I ran a 30km race there at 5 min/km pace in the lead up to the Sydney marathon (I now run my “easy runs at about 4.55/km).
Last year I had a shocking run there in a half marathon, and finished in a crumpled heap of tears.
On Tuesday last week, I ran my last fartlek session before the Hawaii Ironman. It was one of the fastest fartleks I have ever run, and I felt fantastic. What a journey.
And now some thank - you's
At a time like this I also tend to reflect on who I really have to thank for getting me here. I was running on the Queen K Highway today, up the final hill I will tackle before I head down to the finish line. As the sun beat down on me, and I started to struggle with the heat, I thought about all the people out there who would LOVE to be here right now, doing what I am going to do. And also about the people who will be supporting me when I take on that hil, with 3km to go.
All my team mates, current and past, who day in and day out lend their support, encouragement and advice. Kristen and Nathan, there from the start. Melbourne Triathlon Club, all my Oui Tri buddies, Mark and Lynn, Ian and Lavinia, the touch football crew, skiiing crowd, and right back to the glory days of playing rugby. All these people have lent their support for many years, and still give me amazing strength and encouragement.
My work and Uni colleagues who have been incredibly suppportive of this whole experience.
Pete's Mum and brother. They were there in Florida at the half - Ironman worlds. They were there to see me qualify for Hawaii in France. Unfortunately they can't be here this week, but I know they will be here in spirit.
My own family - who have always taught me to follow my dreams and believe in myself. My mother taught us to be strong and determined. My father epitomises the phrase "Anything is Possible". Despite a physical disablilty he has worked a physical job for over 40 years and raised a family.
My coach. Sean Foster. I cannot begin to say how massive his influence has been in the past year. its not just about a program, it's not about individual sessions, its not about advice. It's about being coached by someone who ABSOLUTELY LIVES for this sport. He calls us "his" athletes. He is thrilled about everyone that achieves, on whatever level. He's great.
So thanks to everyone in my life who I know will be gunning for me while I am out there on saturday. I'll make you all proud.
DAYS TO GO = 5
Hours trained this week = 11 hours
Swim = 9km
Bike = 146 km
Run = 48.36 km
