Karen and Kate's journey to Ironman and beyond

The wind was gusting 40km per hour, every time I looked outside the office today it seemed to get worse, so much for the planned bike ride this evening.  Anyway, driving home it was clear that going out on two wheels was just plain stupid, so a run and spin were the substitute. I got home and changed into the new penguin suit...otherwise known as a sleeveless 'tri-suit', 'onesie' or the "you cant POSSIBLY be wearing that outside can you?".  It consists of lightly padded tri-pants and a form fitting singlet stuck together, sort of like long legged togs, and it was a super bargain from the $20 bin at a bike shop in Cambridge last weekend. I couldn't leave it there, it was the right size, Orca brand which is really good, and down from $180 so it seemed like an excellent way to try out something novel without massive investment.  The first time I wore it was on Wednesday for the Stroke and Stride, it went on under the wetsuit and had the advantage of not thr...

With a bit of complicated organisation Kate and me managed to get in to Mission Bay after work on Wednesday to try out one of the long running ' Stroke and Strid e' series.  These are regular events through summer, with differing length swim and run distances.  This week we got the 750m swim straight out into the harbour, and a 4km run along the waterfront towards St Helliers.  We had looked at the times for previous events and decided they were all far too fast, pessimistically setting our own targets to be right at the back of the pack.  We also wondered what to wear?  Was it the sort of place you turned up letting it all hang out in a tri-suit, could you strip down to bra and tri-pants getting out of your wetsuit, or were conservative togs/shorts/t-shirt the norm?  Turned out it was all of those, lots of people wonderfully confident in their bodies of all shapes and sizes but as a friend who observed the event did comment afterwards (referring to a popul...

Went for a swim this evening to test out the shoulder before the planned swim/run session in the city on Wednesday night.  No point in turning up I figured if I couldn't manage the 750m so I estimated a half hour session in the sea would be a good trial, Kate has already beaten me soundly in one discipline in the last few days, I would rather minimise the margin by which she does it if I can. I squeeeezed into the wetsuit, and headed over the road and set off at a good pace in a quiet sea.  As usual it took a little while to find some sort of rhythm, feeling ok, breathing good, no particular pressure on the problem shoulder and then THUNK. YES, thunk (cue theme from jaws here).  I'd impacted something solid and when I had finished yelling and sinking and came up to see what I  had hit I became aware of two things.  One was the bemused looking shag staring back at me with little beady eyes, his long beak inches from my face... I quickly filtered through my br...

Well what a title! I dreamt this one up as I was cycling around lake Taupo. There were just so many men to thank for helping me along. There was John, Paul, Eric, Mathew, Evan, Morris, John so many Johns I can not remember them all. It might seem a bit strange, a bit like a song... 'to all the men I have loved and lost' but it seems like that in a way. Riding around the lake you need friends, drafting helps so much. But you have to pick the person that you are going to draft carefully. They have to know what they are doing, not stopping for a drink or just because they could. I met Evan just outside Taupo. He had a bronze number on, which meant he had completed 10 + rides. I followed him for some time and then noticed his bottle of gel was leaking down his backside and down his leg. Sticky. I rode up close to him to let him know. I kept seeing him over the next few hours. He was Welsh and had the welsh dragon on his water bottles. You learn alot from looking. He came in...

We only have one more big event before Ironman having on Saturday knocked off the Taupo cycle challenge for another year.  Kate...mutter mutter mutter....no competition here...as predicted, thrashed me, coming in with an amazing under 7 hour performance of 6 hours 57.  I managed a respectable 7 hours 13, knocking half an hour off last years time.  These times might not sound great to some people, but remember our first effort in 2007 took nearly 10 hours and we have gotten progressively faster and faster each time. It was an interesting experience in more ways than one.  The anxiety in the week before about the likely impact of the volcanic activity came to nothing, the only real reported impact seemed to be in one of the enduro riders (multiple laps of the lake) pulling out on Thursday night because of ash in the eyes, but otherwise we saw no evidence that something big was going on.  That was in spite of looking hard at the peaks in the distance hoping to...

I put a few pictures of the ocean swim on face book.   It seems as I have got lost. But a friend of mine, well is she a friend! did this to them!       I mean to say.......       I'm back swimming tonight! we will have to watch out!

You know how we were worrying about that minor thing...a volcanic eruption...interrupting the planned weekend bike-ride (of ourselves and 10,000 others) around lake Taupo?  Well, apparently the  Te Maari crater on  Mt Tongariro has just erupted and is busy chucking clouds of ash at the sky just next door to the lake. The question is...when will the one we were actually expecting, Mt Ruapehu, follow suit? Photo of Tongariro, today, November 21. 1.30pm We do keep finding novel ways of sabotaging our endurance careers don't we?  All is not lost however, last report was that the wind was blowing the ash clouds away from Taupo, long may that continue.

If I had been a bit more worried, and obviously acted on the worry, a month ago, would I feel better prepared for Saturday's ride?  It is a bit like preparing for an exam, you know (have always been told?) that if you do a little bit every day in a planned way things WILL GO WELL.  Actually, I'm not sure that is always how things work, the best laid plans have a habit of turning custard-like regardless of the amount of preparation but you do OK on the day anyway. As I am sure will be the case on Saturday.  The PLAN is...everything packed on Thursday... pleasant trip to Taupo on Friday stopping at Cambridge for a light and nutritious snack...check in to the accommodation, unpack and organise everything...have a leisurely and sensible dinner...check equipment, and retire for an early night.  In the morning have a leisurely breakfast...ensure the carefully calculated type and amount of food for energy is packed in line with the well thought out plan for eating and dri...

Bike ride on Friday evening, did the hard hills around Whitford, out to Takanini for those long wind blown straights, off to Clevedon then finally out to Kawakawa bay and back. Thinking all the while...the plan says 100km...should I do that or should I do what my body says...go home now.  My shoulder hurt, a bursitis problem from earlier in the year which never really went away, but it was possible to ignore the occasional twinge while I wasn't attempting to strength train or doing much in the way of swimming...hello...triathletes normally swim...now what?  Why, the usual, stretch, avoid doing the things that hurt (like sleeping on my favourite side or sitting on a bike for hours at a time), panadol, cold and/or heatpacks, and eventually when I get a bit more worried off to the physio.  On the plus side, the bike is going really well, I'm getting used to it's idiosyncratic but now relatively reliable gear changes, and there are no new strange noises or bits threatening to...

One of my fears last year at Ironman was the swim. When asked what the problem was I said I was afraid of the snakes and sharks!  But really I was afraid of swimming on my own. So the plan is to do some ocean swims. Wednesday I was looking at the summer swim series at Kohimarama Beach in Auckland on the web site. Pressed the enter button and that was that, I was entered.  I turned up on Thursday night, got my hat with my number on and sat and waited for the start. My friend Barbara turned up and it was nice to see a friendly face. The gun went and off we went into the sea. My fears came running back, all the other swimmers were better than me, I was left behind, I could not breathe. Breast stroke and catch my breath, talk my self into being OK. I can swim to the first buoy, its only 250m, I can swim to the next 500m, I can swim to the 750m. OK I'm going to be OK. I looked around and there was no-one behind me so I thought I better turn around. 1500 m I swam in 41 minu...

I drove home after work last night in the extraordinary thunder and lightning (and some hail) and pondered the fact that I had an iron-cast excuse for not getting outside on the lighting-rod with wheels otherwise known as a bicycle.  The weather was so scary that even running or swimming weren't a viable option. You only have these sorts of genuine, impossible to ignore excuses when you actually really really want to be training...when you are aware time is ticking away...its nearly time to taper...and you haven't done anywhere near enough work. I got home and got on the spin bike and pedaled to nowhere for an hour and read my book.  Backlit e-readers are just great when you are out on the covered deck, the light is fading, and unlike real books you can balance them nicely on the handlebars and adjust the font size depending on whether you are sitting up or leaning forward.  Having decided to try to train myself into the 'spinning' rather than 'grinding' style...

Less than 2 weeks to the  Taupo cycle challenge .  The big bikeride with Kate on Friday did lots for my confidence though, 5 really enjoyable hours on the road, circumnavigating the whole of the Hunua ranges and covering 105 spectacular km.  This was the course followed for the SRAM Tour de ranges held in January of each year, or pretty close to it, I forgot the map and relied on the "I'm sure we just keep turning left" style of navigating. It is so much more enjoyable to do these things in company, picture us starting out by climbing the hills out the back of Clevedon until we were way above the tallest power pylons, stopping for a snack and to take in the view. Then plunging along the rollercoaster roads past Hunua, stopping for a snack and to take in a view.  Next racing along the beautiful coastal road at Kaiaua looking towards the Coromandal, stopping for a snack and to take in the view. At last, grinding up winding (hilly) roads through gorgeous bush before K...

Saturday I helped out at our local clubs annual event: Steel man Iron lady. Now I belong to a Multi-sport club and I think most of them are mad! They road bike, mountain bike, kayak, and run off-road. They really are mad people, but the kindest lot of friends I could have wished for. I've been going through a rough patch and they are just there encouraging me and supporting me. I might be the slowest runner and slowest biker in the club but they will always come back and check that I'm OK. So when they asked me to join the committee I did not hesitate, well I did a little but otherwise it would have looked as if I was too keen. So yesterday was the big event. loads of bikes, runners and boats. I was helping to run the kids event. We only had 36 kids come but those who did had so much fun. They ran around a field, then had a bikeride and then an obstacle course. There were goody bags to win, shirts, and the top prize a freestyle bike!  Not sure what that was but the kids...

Well the question is did we get lost or just have fun? Karen and I went off for a long ride today, we followed the route of the SRAM tour de ranges going around the Hunua hills. Well I think we actually went over them, there were some very long and big hills. But at one stage we had a T intersection in the road, one way was to Auckland the other to Tauranga. We could not work out where we were. Luckily there was a shop and help was on hand. A new bottle of water was bought and new directions and off we went. It was a beautiful day and when we came to the top of one hill we were treated to a lovely sight of the sea and the Coramandel hills. We are very lucky to see such amazing sights. My friend Mark died this week. He had been ill for a short time and we had time to say goodbye. On days like this we are so lucky to be alive and enjoy life. He always commented about my running thing and bike thingy, he said I was the only one he knew that came in from a run and if offere...

I was very sad to see that the New York Marathon had been cancelled following on from the big storm they had. It brought back sad memories of our Ironman cancellation. The emotions go away and you have to move on and plan the next event. Its hard but safety has to be the most important thing.

It has been a year since the gears on my bike worked properly.  I have over time developed a habit of avoiding changing from high to low on the big cogs at the front because going back from low to high was barely possible, involving lots of clicking of levers and muttered curses and frustrating slow downs and wobbles.  I thought it was me and had gotten embarrassed about complaining at the bike shop...visualise the mechanic looking superior and saying "I took it for a ride and it was fine...and look...click click... it changes perfectly up on the stand...nothing wrong with it".  When I took the trusty scott in for a pre-taupo service I decided to try my luck and have a grizzle to the new people who have taken over the bike shop.  I hoped that they might see something the last lot didn't. This time it was "oh look, see how these bits are worn out" and what do you know, a slightly depressing amount of money later and I have a bike which has nearly double the ...

Its been another busy week, but quite fun, It started on Tuesday when I said to Karen that I was riding on my own as the bike group was going mountain biking. She said lets go on a 50 k ride from Maraetai, Clevedon and back. It was hard work and I was late for my meeting but a good feeling. The next ride on Thursday I went out with the boys. They are so much faster than me but kept coming back for me and checking that I was OK another 33k and fast, well for me anyway. Friday I was off to Wellington for work. I worry about flying so I thought why not train in Wellington. So I arrived at 10am and it was cold and wet! Not a good start, but that was what I was there for. I ran along the water front to the pool and then swam for 2k and then ran back to the hotel. It was great I could then get on with work and having done my training there was no worries.

I've just been online to check my results from this morning's Panasonic standard triathlon  and how upsetting, my name isn't on the list!  I hope it is a clerical error, not a case of the transponder not registering.  Anyway, I've just sent off a plaintive email to the organisers...please find me. So the day started with being up at 6am for breakfast, admittedly feeling a little sluggish after an unplanned buffet dinner last night which was absolutely not my usual idea of a good pre-race meal...but it was seriously nice.  Time to pack the plastic box with all the essential things for a triathlon...water...bike things, run things, anti-chafe...water... handkerchief.  Decisions...what top will I wear, just bra under the wetsuit and the singlet to ride and run in, or is the weather poor enough to put the whole lot on after the swim...singlet, bike shirt, and jacket?  Do I need my neoprene bonnet...or just the yellow swimcap?  What food...not e...