Kate writes: ironman Camp
This was going to be my 3rd Camp. So nothing was new! I knew the routine, did I have my own room, yes I did. A little celebration and a little dance. There is nothing like a room to yourself when you are tired. There were 14 of us in one house. A bit of a squeeze but it makes it cheaper for us all, and we were all very good to each other. No long showers and a list of jobs all helped out.
Friday evening we went for a run around the top end of the course at Taupo. 8k gentle run and a quick catch up with one of the girls. You know you are not going fast enough if you can talk. We had a lovely pasta supper and off to bed. Woken at 3:30 in the morning with someone letting off fireworks.
Saturday at 5:45 to be out of the house at 6am and swimming at 6:30. Last year I had a wobbly at the swim but no problem this year . Straight into the water and off we went. The sun was just beginning to rise, there was a mist on the water and you could not see the golf platform that we were aiming for. But I kept sighting the mountain in front and kept it on the right hand side. Wow it was a beautiful swim. I swam about 35 minutes and then turned around. It felt so good. There was a man on a paddle board next to me at one point and I thought how lucky I was to be there. I did see crocodiles in the water though but they did not move.
Back to the house for breakfast and then out on the bike. 3 hours riding around the course around town. It was good to look at hills and turns. The wind was behind me as I went down to the bottom of the long hill and I clocked up 60k, it was a good job that I did not see how fast I was going at the time.
Back to the house for Lunch. Food becomes so important. We then talked about transitions and nutrition. A little sleep was had and then out for another run. This time doing the middle part of the run. This was from the house to the Mobil garage. Taupo is having new water mains so there is a lot of road works. hope they are better in 6 weeks time!
Sunday 5:45 wake up time, quick breakfast and out to the swim by 7am. We were doing a swim/bike transition. Ricky said he would swim with me which was very kind, as its very reassuring to have someone close by, mind you he cannot swim in a straight line. I would stop and look for him on one side only to find him on the other. But a big Thank you as it was a great help.
We were last in from the swim and straight onto the bikes. We were off on a 180km ride. It was actually good to be last as I could not see anyone and could go at my own speed. It was a slow ride out to Reparoa. I always ask myself Why? I even had to ask my coach, was there a head wind, and yes there was. Rode back well and came in the first lap 3hours 50mins, not bad! Tried some boiled potatoes as a snack and a banana and thought that would keep me going for the next few hours. By now the sun had come out and the temp was up to 30 degrees. A fast ride out this time. The wind had moved. But that meant a slow ride home. It was very hot. I like my new water bottle on the areobars. But I do not think I was drinking enough. I thought my friend Alisa was coming, she drives a large Ute and when the car arrived it was a Mini! At this point I knew I needed to pull over in the shade and have a drink and more food. Another 10k I can do that. It came to that point that I had to break everything down. I knew I could get to 150k, then 157k as that's as far as I have ridden. All I could think of was that Coach had said finish the ride, you can walk tomorrow. Then what next! Tina arrived with an ice block and cold water. It was the best thing ever. I could finish. Off I went again up the hill, could see the yellow sign next to the race track, turned again and into the last section. It was a great feeling coming into town. I had finished. But even better there was the Ute and friends waiting to pick me up with cold drinks. Back to the house a shower and then out to dinner.
Monday 5:45 wake up again and off for a run at 7am. We could run for 3 hours, that was the plan. Well I managed 3k and felt tired so decided to walk. It was hot and I was tired. But I managed 16k. Back to the house and a clear up, car packed and a sad goodbye to all my new friends. A long drive home with a couple of stops to refuel. Yes it was a great weekend, now more training is needed.
Friday evening we went for a run around the top end of the course at Taupo. 8k gentle run and a quick catch up with one of the girls. You know you are not going fast enough if you can talk. We had a lovely pasta supper and off to bed. Woken at 3:30 in the morning with someone letting off fireworks.
Saturday at 5:45 to be out of the house at 6am and swimming at 6:30. Last year I had a wobbly at the swim but no problem this year . Straight into the water and off we went. The sun was just beginning to rise, there was a mist on the water and you could not see the golf platform that we were aiming for. But I kept sighting the mountain in front and kept it on the right hand side. Wow it was a beautiful swim. I swam about 35 minutes and then turned around. It felt so good. There was a man on a paddle board next to me at one point and I thought how lucky I was to be there. I did see crocodiles in the water though but they did not move.
Back to the house for breakfast and then out on the bike. 3 hours riding around the course around town. It was good to look at hills and turns. The wind was behind me as I went down to the bottom of the long hill and I clocked up 60k, it was a good job that I did not see how fast I was going at the time.
Back to the house for Lunch. Food becomes so important. We then talked about transitions and nutrition. A little sleep was had and then out for another run. This time doing the middle part of the run. This was from the house to the Mobil garage. Taupo is having new water mains so there is a lot of road works. hope they are better in 6 weeks time!
Sunday 5:45 wake up time, quick breakfast and out to the swim by 7am. We were doing a swim/bike transition. Ricky said he would swim with me which was very kind, as its very reassuring to have someone close by, mind you he cannot swim in a straight line. I would stop and look for him on one side only to find him on the other. But a big Thank you as it was a great help.
We were last in from the swim and straight onto the bikes. We were off on a 180km ride. It was actually good to be last as I could not see anyone and could go at my own speed. It was a slow ride out to Reparoa. I always ask myself Why? I even had to ask my coach, was there a head wind, and yes there was. Rode back well and came in the first lap 3hours 50mins, not bad! Tried some boiled potatoes as a snack and a banana and thought that would keep me going for the next few hours. By now the sun had come out and the temp was up to 30 degrees. A fast ride out this time. The wind had moved. But that meant a slow ride home. It was very hot. I like my new water bottle on the areobars. But I do not think I was drinking enough. I thought my friend Alisa was coming, she drives a large Ute and when the car arrived it was a Mini! At this point I knew I needed to pull over in the shade and have a drink and more food. Another 10k I can do that. It came to that point that I had to break everything down. I knew I could get to 150k, then 157k as that's as far as I have ridden. All I could think of was that Coach had said finish the ride, you can walk tomorrow. Then what next! Tina arrived with an ice block and cold water. It was the best thing ever. I could finish. Off I went again up the hill, could see the yellow sign next to the race track, turned again and into the last section. It was a great feeling coming into town. I had finished. But even better there was the Ute and friends waiting to pick me up with cold drinks. Back to the house a shower and then out to dinner.
Monday 5:45 wake up again and off for a run at 7am. We could run for 3 hours, that was the plan. Well I managed 3k and felt tired so decided to walk. It was hot and I was tired. But I managed 16k. Back to the house and a clear up, car packed and a sad goodbye to all my new friends. A long drive home with a couple of stops to refuel. Yes it was a great weekend, now more training is needed.
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