Karen and Kate's journey to Ironman and beyond

The cough still lurks, but it sounds worse than it is, it's not interfering with work, life, or training, but does garner a few nervous looks from other people so I'm pretty much staying in isolation. Yesterday I had a good ride, 100 minutes playing with the aerobars, probably not going any faster than usual and I'm not familiar enough with them to tell if the promised 'less energy usage' is true, but I'm progressing, and most importantly, enjoying.  Managed a 30 minute run afterwards, I'm short on the off-the-bike runs, so I will do another of those this week.  What with the aerobars, and a set of brand new very pretty wheels (not tried yet), I'm sure I shall leap off the bike saddle and run like the wind after the planned 7 hour cycling effort later in the week.  Yeah right. The new wheels came about when the mechanic who was replacing my wrecked tyre from a couple of weeks ago spun the rear wheel and looking serious pointed out that there was a no...

Sunday morning I was going out ridding with Barbara, who is doing Ironman too. Her Husband, wonderful man , was dropping us at Karaka and we were going to ride home, about 80-90 k. We got the bikes out of the car to find that Barbara had left her front wheel at home! We sent the men off on their way to their event and started phoning for help. First call was to the daughter but she did not answer. The second to a swimming mate of ours who lives close by and is also a cyclist. Yes he had a spare wheel and yes he could deliver it to us. Wow what great friends we have. Bret then came and cycled with us for the next 3 hours giving us hints and tips on what we could do to ride better. Not only did he come to our rescue but a coaching session too. We were blessed .  

I had had an  amazing camp and the coach had said to take it easy this week. Well a small swim and run was ok? So I signed up to do the stroke and stride on Wednesday evening. I mean to say it was only  1000m swim what could go wrong! Well to start with it was really rough with big waves. Not as big as last week, that stopped me going for a swim but still big ones. I warmed up and got ready for the swim. I knew I was in trouble straight away. It was hard work, but I knew I had to go on. A lovely lifeguard on a surfboard came up and asked if  I was ok, I replied Yes but a few minutes later she asked if I wanted a rest. So I hung onto the side and we had a chat. I felt better and off we went again. I had 2 more stops before heading for home. Yes I managed to swim but wow I was tired. I came out exhausted. 4 bananas later I stopped shaking. The training weekend had taken a lot out of me. I took the next day off but will be back to the sea next week.  

I've been sick.  It's a head-cold and while I've tried to be sort-of sensible about taking it a bit easy (except for last weekend), the cold wasn't shifting after more than a week. I'd had a day in bed and a total of 4 days off training.  How can I be an Ironman if I am incapacitated by a cold? Today I finally got back to training, it was a decision that was kind of "should I...shouldn't I", but there comes a point where doing nothing stops being an option.  The 130km long ride was actually planned for an annual leave day yesterday, Friday, but I wasn't feeling too good, so this morning I was out the door before I could second guess myself.  I had my new aerobars with a flash big waterbottle thing (I'm copying Kate) mounted on them to try out so I headed to Clevedon then out to Kawakawa bay into the beautiful morning. The new flash water bottle I think being out on the road training sends me a little bit loopy.  Down on my aerobars was ...

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....

Saturday night I set the alarm for 5am to have an early breakfast before the Sunday long run.  I was awake long before this, coughing, sneezing, swigging water for my sore throat.  It's a head-cold, just a minor bug, but...what happens if it is really my body trying to tell me to take a rest...what happens if I make it worse and have to stop training for DAYS...what happens if I am really just being a wimp and trying to get out of training...what if... The old 'above the neck' rule is the test, quick assessment, yep, thoroughly miserable but all symptoms above the neck, no temperature, so I got up and had breakfast, cleaned my teeth, reset the alarm for 7, and went back to bed.  7.30am, no new and more convincing excuses have arisen, out the door, thinking that if I felt really awful I could come home, the first half hour to get to Tepuru only felt moderately awful, in fact the further I ran the better I felt.  My throat had gone numb, my hanky was suffering from o...

I headed off with a dose of lemsip and extra hankies this morning, the cold I caught on Thursday is having it's effect, but I'm tough...aren't I?  Got to Clevedon, people everywhere, the event was much bigger than I had anticipated and I was glad I was there a little early to get good parking.  I got all ready, hopped on my bike in the parking area to test the gears and promptly fell off onto the grass. No harm done, just the pride as I lay like an upturned bug under my bike. At the start I lurked at the back of the group, not wanting to be overtaken by every man and his bike, but came adrift with this when we hit the first big hill 5km out.  There was a bottleneck of people who had raced along the flats but were still getting into their hill-climbing stride so to speak, it was a bit tricky there for a bit going round people uphill who would pass me again on the downhill, and they did. The field thinned out soon enough, well, left me behind actually, and I enjoyed wan...

Yesterday the wind was blowing and there was a large party going on outside the office and it was decided to do exercise inside. Well It was yoga! The last lot of yoga I did, that was obviously old lady yoga as I could not feel any difference with it. But this yoga was led by one of the staff and I was exhausted by the end of it.

A girl has got to have a good time Yep! Well the running group just know how to show me a good time by taking me on a new run. Fun you might say, but the problem comes when male ego takes over. We run on a Monday night in Waiuku. Anyone is able to join us if you want. It was raining, not hard but enough to cool us down. Off across the road and around the estuary we went. There are some new side walks and bridges that have been built. No problem with those. The problem arose when the boys decided to carry on around where the mangroves grow. It was muddy and by the time they decided that we could not get through I was knee deep in mud. The clean running shoes were covered in mud and leaves and grass and who knows what else.  It was fun but we did look a sight. I was amazed that we were allowed in the pub after our run.

I've mentioned my 'Buff' tube scarf a few times, well that's a brandname, there are other versions as well. They are also advertised as "multi-functional head(or neck)wear" which is a bit more of a mouthful. Basically a tube scarf is just what it sounds like, a tube of light knit ("seamless microfibre") fabric, if you believe Buffwear's advertising they are quick dry and fluid wicking, keep you warm, sun protect, in fact do almost anything except cook and clean. I LOVE my tube scarf, and am most often found to be wearing one when out training.  Under the cycle helmet they don't seem to overheat but do keep the sun away from ears and the back of your neck, and in the rain and wind they help keep your head warm.  I use an ordinary tube scarf under a sunhat for running in the cold and wet, but have one which has a cool little visor sewn into it which I use by itself for running in the heat. They go through the washing machine a lot better tha...

 The bike group sent out a message for a group ride on Sunday. Yes I'm up for that. I needed to do a 3 hour ride and thought I could add in extra if necessary. Usually with the group ride i'm left behind and they come back to check on me. But Sunday I was not the slowest :) . It was a good ride out 2hrs 40 mins and 70 k later I felt good.  I had to work hard at the ride but it was well worth it. Thanks boys for your help and support. 

This weekend all I have had to worry about is what my next training session is, and what to eat either to prepare for or recover from it.  Until tomorrow of course, back at work, and then the whanau come home again and training gets squashed in and around that thing called 'life'.  It's good timing having some space to focus with about 4 weeks of real training (plus 2 weeks of taper) left before the Ironman. Anyway, Friday I took a few hours annual leave to go for a bikeride.  Friday was pretty hot, I left work at lunchtime and went home to get ready for a hard slog, organised layers of sun block clothing, sunscreen, food, water, money, and headed for Whitford on the bike.  As I was riding along one road I wondered what the sweet smell was, that was answered when I came upon a truck loaded with honey supers, mmmm, the aroma of warm honey and wax heating up in the hive on a hot day, when the truck took off again I could just about have followed it on it's wande...

Well that's what the man said in the shop. He said that I will go like a rocket when he had finished setting my bike up. I was like a kid in a toy shop yesterday. I went to have my bike set up and new bike shoes. My feet have actually grown! I am now running in a size 43 instead of a 40 when I first started running. Consequently my bike shoes have been a bit tight for some time. I had to wait for the visa bill to go down before I could add more. There were some nice shoes in the shop at a bargain price, but only one pair of specialized white carbon fibre soled ones in a size 42 and they fitted just like Cinderella. It took over an hour to have the bike set up. Seat post 2 cm higher, aero bars lower , cleats moved several times. I also had a water bottle fitted on the aero bars. So last night off I went to see how it felt and yes it felt better, but no I do not go any faster, but maybe I will just feel better on the long rides. What was an interesting exercise was the water bottle...

What you might ask did I try to do. Well it was a simple thing to go swimming last night. I worked hard all day and thought I would swim in Otara pool after work. It was a nice day and I though everyone would be outside. But no the indoor pool was full including the swimming lanes with people and children walking. So home I went. But on the way home I thought lets go to Waiuku pool, the outside pool, it closes at 6 so should just about get the swim in. But No it was closed at 5pm!  Grump grump! New World beckoned and a bottle of wine and sausages for tea. So you can see I was trying!! Yes I know, very trying :)

I'm doing a lot of “what was I doing this time last year?”,  “am I in better or worse shape than I was then?” type of thinking. The answer is, who can tell?   That  doesn't  help really, because we never really tested ourselves at the full IM distance when the 2012 IM was downgraded, there is a definite psychological advantage to be had in being able to at least fool ourselves into thinking that we are marginally fitter than we were a year ago.  Last week I did an hour more training than the equivalent week in 2012…but then the Nagging Voice in the Brain (NVB) says “but you didn’t do as much swimming and you are weak at that”.  I reminded myself that I swam my best time in the Rotorua Half IM swim in December…NVB says “that was AGES ago”.  Likewise, the ‘off-the-bike’ run on Friday felt pretty good and I had a good long run (24km) on Sunday…NVB says “ah but you took a whole day off before doing the Friday ride/run, and the Saturday after it of...

Monday nights is running night. We have not meet up for a few weeks as Christmas and New Year has got in the way. So last night I meet up with a couple of the lads and poppy the dog.  It was blowing a gale and we had a good head wind to start with. Hats were being blown every where. It was great when we turned the corner and had a tail wind. I'm a little stiff today and I think its because I am running faster. It was a good run and I ran the whole way, up two hills and all the way back to the pub! The running group makes me run faster and stay true to the run other wise I tend to give up too easily.

What is the Ironman event like? This is a YouTube clip showing the 2012 Taupo Ironman, it gives a very very tiny and of course slightly sanitised glimpse of how things happen in the event, starting with the leadup in the days before, the early morning marking and getting ready, the transitions and aid stops, but most particularly it shows how much hard work the amazing volunteers do.  We will be there in a few weeks again to hit the Ironman trail again...properly this time...not sure whether to go 'eek' or 'yahoo'!

I've signed up for the 2013 SRAM Tour de ranges cycle ride round the Hunua Ranges, it's advertised as 'the most beautiful ride of the year'.  Kate is busy that weekend so she wont be coming but we did this route in November and we reported that it was spectacular but all HILLS and more hills.  This ride distance doesn't really fit with my training plan, which asks for a 130km long ride that week not 110, but using the power of justification, I figure since hills are so much harder than flat riding the 15% shorter ride will be just fine. The thing with long rides is that they are by definition...long.  It is also now summer so rides are usually hot and with Auckland weather you can often expect windy conditions at some point on most routes, especially coastal ones. For a slow cyclist like me getting any sort of distance is also extremely time consuming and its hard to be cheerful getting in the saddle knowing you have 5, 6 or 7 hours ahead of you of just pedal e...

All these double sessions, and now a long ride followed by an 'off-the-bike' run today, I'm tired, but I'm feeling at last like I am getting into proper Ironman training.  This morning I headed out early on the bike to ride 110km, unlike last year this included just one loop of those boring and grubby roads around Takanini, most of the time was in much nicer places like on my new route out to Kawakawa bay.  I also revisited a place with some good memories, hey Kate, you remember that Whitford loop...about 6km long?  We rather mistakenly thought that by doing this particular loop three times we were trained enough for our first 160km Taupo cycle challenge, that was back in the days when we had our first cleated shoes and stopping more often than not involved lining up a convenient post or powerpole to hang onto.  There was one bright spot in Takanini though, I queued up on a narrow road with the cars at a police checkpoint, and had to laugh when the earnest young poli...

I just read Karen's last blog. I could not understand where the starfish came in! Then I realised it said selfish! Hahaha. Well my good intentions went out the window on Monday. Do I go for a swim or New years eve party early. It was a hard decision and the party won. A short swim was had. On New Years day, a very short swim. No or at least little sleep did not help the training. So the next day I got back on my bike and did some training. Yippee yes I was back on track. Today Swimming and Yoga. I'm very impressed with myself. But as you can see from the title of the blog I cannot read and now need an afternoon sleep!

To train for Ironman you have to be a bit selfish.  But also realistic, there are some things in life that trump training, you have to be flexible but it doesn't mean it's easy to be entirely grown up about it all the time. I had planned a long bikeride this morning, got up early for a big breakfast of rice porridge, sorted the bike out, put the water bottles in their cages, sandwiches were packed and I was standing at the door dressed and ready to go when then the Coastguard locator went off, W had an urgent call-out.  Ok, I'm never-ever-ever going to say "let them drown" but after I stood on the deck watching that little rescue boat go racing off for who knows what and who knows how long, I selfishly couldn't help but think about how HARD it was to get out of bed early on this holiday morning, and how much trickier training was if you couldn't do it when and how you wanted.  All that and of course the fact that I had eaten twice my normal calories for ...