Karen and Kate's journey to Ironman and beyond

Tomorrow it is 2012.  The year of Ironman.   Eek. I had a nightmare last night, it was one of those nasty ones where the silly detail is horribly clear.   It went like this....it was the morning of the 3 rd of March but the fridge needed cleaning so I couldn’t be dropped off to do the Ironman until after the ice (?) had all been scraped out.  The race was due to start at 8.30, my anxiety grew and when it was 5 minutes before the gun I got sick of waiting for transport and decided to run down the road to the start (I did worry that I was burning unnecessary energy).  There were only a few people left, and I didn’t have my race number, so they gave me a new one and a pen (which didn't work) to write my name down.  Then I realised I didn’t have my bike, wasn’t wearing sports gear, and my children were still with me.  Then I woke up, so I don’t know how well I did!   Doesn’t take a whole lot of imagination to figure out what that says...

Its been blowing a gale here at the Manukau Harbour. I have swum twice this week in the rough sea and feel more confident. But I decided I should do some proper training and push myself, so up to the school pool I went. But the key did not work :( . Borrowed a friends key and that worked, it needed a bit of twiddling. I always worry about swimming on my own, what happens if I knock my head and drown? No one to save me!  But then again I can swim better now and really just have to get over myself. The training this week was 2650m endurance. Wow do I feel tired. Had to come home and have a sleep. I wonder if I can have a sleep on the day of Ironman - He He He! Its still blowing a gale, hope to get out on bike tomorrow and check those gears.

Tuesday was the high point of my fitness year.   Up early, big breakfast, then I got dropped off at Ocean beach for my favourite Christmas tramp/run.    Every year I attack the Lion range at the tip of the Whangarei Heads, starting with the steep trail up from the beach at Bream Head , where I pause near the top to say hello to my Grandfather Hill who worked on the 2 nd World War radar station there, then it is some serious up and down till I come out 3 hours later at Urquharts bay and run home (another hour).  I love this route, but there is one part which always reminds me how easy it is to make mistakes, especially when you are by yourself.  An hour into the Lion tramp you get to the top of a steep bush slope and there is the choice of a left turn or a right turn.  The direction you instinctively go in is left, however following that way brings you onto a really skinny track with a drop on either side, then there is a big, but scale-ab...

I was supposed to be off resting for 2 days! But on Christmas day my brother in law took the boat out and I just had to have a go on the sea biscuit. Then I had to have a swim. The water was so still and clear, which is unusual for the Manukau Harbour. The next day the same. I jumped off the boat out in the estuary, very brave I was, I mean to say there are sharks out there, and swam to shore against an out going tide. Today I went for my 1 hour ride and had problems with my gears again, but as my coach says get over it and move on. So I just did a different ride, with hills in it. I went to see a neighbour to get some help and he said there was nothing wrong with the gears, I still think there is so will have to get out and do some more riding. The tide today was at 1pm so ideal swimming. But there were big waves, just good practise. Rach and myself had a good swim, shes a great encourager and gets me doing more. We tried doing tumble turns in the waves but I just ended upside do...

First thing this morning it was time for a quick trot up my favourite small mountain, then home for a second breakfast, keeping in mind my need for increased carbohydrates!    It was a white gift wrapped mountain today, I walk/ran up in about 35 minutes, paused on the rock platform at its top while the shreds of cold cloud blew past me, and then took 20 minutes to scoot down to the bottom again.   Then off for a walk to get my un-energised children moving, they would much prefer to watch TV.     I kept thinking “this time last week I had finished the half IM swim”, or “this time last week I was half way through the ride”, it seems like it was forever ago though.  Tomorrow morning is the 25th, I plan on another trip up the mountain. It is my ritual on Christmas morning, I sit at the top for a while and look around, at Whangarei to the East, the Heads just below me, Ocean Beach on the other side, Auckland to the South, then I stand up, cl...

I had a txt message from Jacky, that she and Barbara were swimming 8am at school pool. I set the alarm and off I went. I was not looking forward to it, it will be cold, its only 20 meters long its early on my first day of the holidays. Well it was great. The water was not cold, it was clean and wonderful. 2k later i was shattered and ready for a sleep. I'm very lucky to have the facilities around to help. I can see some early morning swimming sessions booked for the holidays. Mind you this morning the sun is shining and the tide is in, so I must go for a swim in the sea. Happy Christmas Eve to all who read this blog today. lol Kate 

I am resting.  Unusually, I am not feeling in the remotest bit guilty about that, I am not worried about losing my hard-won fitness, I am vaguely worried that my food consumption hasn't dropped to reflect my lack of energy expenditure (party time of course)...but a few days isn't going hurt really...I think... Anyway, I have in front of me my eating planning from Cate the nutritionist, and it is all terribly sensible. She wants a lot more energy in on heavy training days, particularly high quality carbohydrates and some protein, I'm to be more strategic about eating overall to keep energy levels up, and should be testing new combinations and ramping up what I eat during exercise to get 60-70g carbohydrate in per hour (that is the hard one for me).   That will start, let me see, after Christmas probably!   But this is really scary, there are officially only 9 weeks to go till Ironman, that is probably only SEVEN weeks of real training! Tomorrow is the trip north to joi...

After the gear failure on Saturday I thought I better go back to the bike shop. I'm well known in Cycle city, and they are always helpful and a nice cup of coffee is on hand while I wait. Whats wrong with the bike, he said, gear broken, No he said looks OK to me? OH. Then I explained the big bang and crunch and not working. So poor bike was put up on the stand and he managed to get it to jam. There is a fault with the gears. They were made for 3 gear wheels and I only have two. Do I want to ride over Christmas he said? My face dropped, I'm doing Ironman, need to train. Deep breath, I can cope.... The Gear paddle on the handle is being sent back to see if we can get it replaced and I have a second hand one to replace it so I can carry on training.. $140 later I'm out of the shop and off to work. Very relieved that I can train. Its good to have good people around to help and support. 

This morning I finally felt guilty enough to look after my equipment after Saturday's soaking wet half Ironman event.  The bike workings were liberally sprayed with WD40, the wetsuit got turned properly inside out and the leaves and mud rinsed off it (I figured it was a fresh water swim so I wasn’t too worried), the running shoes are in the shower full of soap and will probably take a couple of days to change back to a mostly white colour,  and the sodden clothing migrated from the smelly bag in the boot of the car to the washing machine.  Oh   I loathe that bit!    

Friday we packed up the car with double equipment. Left the daughter home alone for a Christmas party of 18 year olds! Not sure whats most worrying, ironman or teenage daughter! Any way off we went. The sun was shining but that was a pretence. Registration had moved to the Avanti shop in Rotorua. We took our wetsuits to get them dipped in sunlight washing up liquid. Probably the cleanest its ever been. Met up with Greg, who I swim with and also doing Ironman, swapped a few stories and off home. 5am the alarm went and I forced breakfast down, running late into the car and it was raining. Into wetsuit, could not find my transponder, searched everywhere, do not PANIC. I had put it with my goggles, deep breath and down to the waters edge. I do love my red toe nails, they stood out in the sand.   The horn went and we were off. Loads of people all trying to start together, legs and arms everywhere. I took a deep breath and started. It felt OK, water was clear, no waves. Thi...

Saturday for the Rotorua Half Ironman was predicted to be rainy, not just 'showers', that forecast stubbornly stuck to 'rain', and for a change the weather boffins were spot-on. The day dawned saturated, we swam in the lake in drizzle, and that was as dry as we were all day. But in spite of constant rain, often torrential, it was a really GOOD day.   I didn't think it was going to be however, I was running late for the start, got stuck in a queue at the 2 stall toilet, and eventually raced to get into my wetsuit just in time.  I'd never worn the replacement secondhand wetsuit in the water, didn't know how it was going to work, but at least Kate managed to get me zipped in so I was fairly optimistic when standing with my toenails digging into the sand, not cheery red like Kates, mine were pretty tame in comparison... then we were away swimming. I thought I was going to have to give up in the first stretch of the swim.   Every time I put my face in the water...

It's Thursday evening, older daughter is hanging over my shoulder reading out loud as I type.   Another event has arrived, this is the last formal endurance activity before IM.  Tomorrow the dog goes to the kennel (she will be grumpy when she gets home), I shall have to finish off the bags I have half packed, one for the girls, one for the adults, four for sports gear, the chiller with food (mostly for me!), and lastly there is a small Christmas tree which temporarily transplants Christmas from Auckland to Rotorua. I tell myself as my anxiety goes up that Rotorua has useful things called 'shops', if I forget something, it ISNT a disaster, I can pick up forgotten sunscreen or panadol or anti-chafe or supplements or socks...or perhaps a life-jacket the way the weather is shaping up. Funny, last week I was fervently hoping that the weather would be fine for Saturday's event, after looking at the dreadful forecasts I now hope for 'just' wind and rain rather than...

No training tonight AGAIN.  The annual Christmas carols at the beach became Christmas carols in the Hall at another beach because of the awaited heavy rain.   It was an exhausting exercise, probably more so but in a different way from what I was meant to be doing, a 500m swim, a 20km bikeride and a 5km run.  Oops.   So spent the evening sitting on the floor in the gym at Te Puru park with hundreds (it felt like thousands) of sugar fueled primary school children racing and dodging and ducking and diving like some swirling juvenile maelstrom...the band and singers bravely (and sometimes successfully) out-noising the yelling children. Oh joy.   Anyway, home at last, tired small bodies packed off to bed, and I am contemplating the spin bike as a token gesture towards training.   It is watching me contemplate it, not saying much.  I really don't know that I can face it though!    I seem to have destroyed my wetsuit too, the flexible arm panels h...

Monday night was my last training session. We went to the out door pool. I was determined to prove myself as good as the others and pushed myself too hard. I felt out of breath and a tight chest. My coach slowed me down and got me to do 5 strokes to one breath and to empty my lungs, this worked well and I felt much better. I must remember that its my race and not any one's else. Saturday is looming and only 3 sleeps. The weather forecast shows a big black cloud and lightening. It should be fun! 

Went to see the nutrition person Cate yesterday.   I carried my little food diary in with trepidation, there were too many items starting with 'c', like chocolate, cake, cookie, cheese and croissant...sadly it is the worst time of the year to watch what you are eating.  Like today was the office party, beautiful healthy food choices (thanks Kates daughter and friends), but it is very hard to say STOP.  I don't do self control very well and it does seem soooo unfair that I burn off so much energy with all the exercise, and cant just replace what I've used with whatever I like. Anyway, Cate was very helpful, she had obviously thought hard since she first met me ("I'm tired...I don't like vegetables... I want chocolate...and I want to do Ironman").  She had practical suggestions and understood that I wasn't going to turn into a model client overnight...probably not ever.   A permanent ban on the 'c' foods wasn't even mentioned, but the f...

Rachel and Mazie West coast Beach  I know its the last week end before the half ironman but I have taken it a little easy.Firstly the long walk turned out to be 2 short walks on west coast beach. But it was beautiful and the dogs enjoyed themselves. I did not huff and puff as I tell my patients it was more of a gentle stroll and a climb over a few rocks. It was a good place to talk and gossip about the world. The next bit of exercise I did was to go to the beautician, have a pedicure and my eye brows waxed. There was a ton of black sand between the nails, but they look so much better now , painted red ready for the event next week. I mean to say its all about the look. I do not think that Norma, Beautician, was that impressed that I was in a rush to make the mid day tide and a little swim in the sea. Swimming into the waves with rescue boat The dead sting ray which I saw yesterday was rotting away nicely. The waves were big and Rachel was surfing well on the waves. I thi...

I'm sure you know the tune. On the tenth day of training, my cycling gave to me... Ten black clad cyclists Nine thundering cows Eight crazy runners Seven menacing motorists Six mowers mowing Five pukeko Four berry pickers Three sets of roadworks Two tired legs, And a roadcone roosting in a pine tree

There really isn't any competition between me and Karen. She always blitz me, Taupo lake was a one off. I felt good on the ride and Karen did not. Very simple. I had a great ride yesterday. I went to swim school first and had a hard work out for an hour then lunch with the girls and boy! Then Barbara and me went off for a ride. She was ready for a 2 hour ride I said I wanted to do 4 hours or 90 k, so off we went. We rode the back route to Waiuku and 42k later we were at the shell garage, top up the water but it also has the best toilets in the area. Home we went and finished 84km in 3hours 20mins. I was pleased, Barbara thought it was a bit slow.  24k an hour is really good for me. Felt tired though. Today the tide is right and Rachael said she would be the rescue boat. The wind is blowing a gale but I need to go out and swim, after all you never know what the conditions will be like on the day. The water was churned up and when I had my face in the water I could not see anything....

I had a swim, admittedly in the fairly energetic swell down at the beach, and a 2km run afterwards to try to get my reluctant legs to work when back in the vertical position.   Thought I had done ok until I got a text from Kate to say she had had a big ride…fast…and a big swim.  Sigh.   

Good wetsuit swim tonight.   Had been to the end of year school prizegiving for the girls, being a bad mum I turned them over to afterschool care afterwards and selfishly went off to swim (my daughter has since said she doesn't think I'm a 'bad mum').   The tide was half in, the sea flat, my body felt ok and I swam most of the 2.25km without the usual stops to have a rest and muck about.  The local wharf is a bit tricky sometimes though, fishermen cast off the end and not wanting to get tangled up in line with hooks I swim between the poles underneath to avoid them.  It gets a bit scary with the young ones jumping off the wharf and I splash hurriedly through with visions of something heavy landing on me as I emerge on the other side. I got out of the water and tried to run the 200 metres over the road and back to the house.  It's hard to run in a tight wetsuit in the sun after an hour of horizontal exercise, I was puffing and my legs were so heavy the...

I do not stretch very much and have an injury. So when there was an offer of a hot yoga session free to the sports club, off I went. There was about 20 of us in a small room and the heat was amazing. The sweat just poured off us. 40degrees someone said. It was an interesting experience. Not sure if I will go back but it did make me stretch for an hour and half.

The recipe to fix tiredness was...get plenty of rest and eat well.   Last night however, was the graduation of a fabulous young woman I have been mentoring (theoretically, I've probably learned more off her truth be known) for the last four years as part of the YWCA Future Leaders Programme .  It involved a trip into town, buffet dinner, of course dessert, and a late night for me, but very worth it to see S graduate from the programme and get a prize for her volunteering work. She did make me laugh in her thankyou speech, she had to make the comment in front of the nearly 300 strong audience that she thought her mentor was “mad…but in a good way”, making reference to Ironman.    Things ran late, I was shattered, and I had a long drive home so I left before the finish at about 9.30pm.   I picked up my keys, phone, the bunch of flowers given to mentors, and hung my coat over my arm and left.   I got to the carpark and looked at what I was holding ...

 I don't usually swim with the squad on Monday nights as it starts at 7pm and I do try to go home and spend time with the family. But it was too tempting to swim in the large 50m out door pool with wet suit on. The Jubilee pool  is 50m long and not open to the public yet, but Jarrad had a key and a trained life guard, so about 15 of us met up on Monday evening and had an assume swim session. Its great having the length and with no lanes we all swam together , with lots of splashes and kicking. I do tend to hold back a little but still got there in the end. It was a good experience in the wet suit too. Mind you I think the wet suit is too large as water seeped in the neck and up the legs. I,m going to try my friends at the week end to see if that is any better. There are disadvantages in losing weight :)

I had a 2km wetsuit swim in the good-sized waves down at the beach last Friday,  had a reasonable 70km bike ride on Saturday, and the 19km run on Sunday was OK if uninspiring.  In fact, I almost did the half IM over the 3 days, there is no doubt that I am fit enough, it's just that I don’t feel  good right now.   After a discussion with trainer Grant I can be a bit flexible with this week's programme, it asked for 2 training sessions most days but I will be building in a little more rest.  The other thing is to take care of two other neglected areas, the hypothyroid and the food. So I had the blood tests to make sure that the thyroid thing wasn’t an obvious cause, the levels are not far off where they usually are, and then I asked for help with nutrition.   It turns out the rules we teach in health education-land  aren't always that easy to apply to endurance activity.  It doesn't seem to just be a matter of increasing everything across the boar...

I'm still not really running , so the coach said a 2 hour walk. It had to be undulating and not a granny walk. Sunday morning I had Husbear, Rachael and Audrey come with me and the 2 dogs to West coast beach. It was only drizzling a little and off we went. We were sandblasted by the sand and all the hairs on our legs were stripped off, we went climbing over the rocks so it was undulating. Had a shower as the waves crashed over us and the rain started pouring down. It was not a granny walk. Its good to have good friends that will encourage you to train. Thanks Guys.

Friday is my day off work. I had planned to swim and bike. The sun was shining and I was hoping to go for a ride with my friend Barbara. I was feeling a little low and contemplated just going home, but no I'm going to be an Iron man! I do not give up. So off for a swim I went. Barbara was not there so I was going to have to motivate myself. The Swim was good, as long as I concentrated and did not hit the wall at either end. Garrard works us hard and then has a good word for each of us. Fiona had just had a hand op and so filmed us. I thought I was doing ok until I saw the film. Who was that large fat girl with the orange hat on. Oh that's me! I quickly turned it off. Its much better to have an image of your self that's better than real life.   We go for lunch and coffee after the swim and its a good time to catch up with friends. It started to rain! I hate the rain,but I was in my bike kit and had my new hat, which goes under my bike hat to keep the sun off. I bought it ...

Oh boy, I was so wishing for my next training plan to arrive, Kate has got hers and it shows that she has Christmas eve and Christmas day off!  Now I wish my plan hadn’t arrived, nine sessions scheduled during this week and I have already screwed up, it’s Wednesday and only three have been done…two of those weren’t even according to the programme. I also feel a bit like someone has taken my icecream away, having always enjoyed the luxury of expecting that if I did a big event, I then DESERVED to spend a month (even a week...a day?) eating too much and taking it easy… not this time!    Actually, its not that bad. I have this little bubble of anticipation growing, this continues to be new territory, with every different challenge teaching something new about how the body copes and bringing its own satisfaction and sense of achievement.  It's a pretty cool feeling to be pushing past all previous limits...or it will be, after I have had another sleep...or three!