Iron Jack

I will try and constrain my use of superlatives, however, the Bayfair Triathlon at Mt Maunganui yesterday was absolutely sensational! I could also say fantastic, brilliant, rocking, outstanding and bloody awesome! Loved it, absolutely loved it, from start to finish.

We arrived at the Mt about 7:30am after leaving Rotorua bright and early at 6:30am. I’d been craning my neck the whole way waiting for that first glimpse of Mt Maunganui on the Tauranga Direct Road. The Tauranga Half Ironman in January at the height of summer had been windy and brutally cold. I was hoping that wasn’t the swim I was about to be in for.

When we crossed the harbour it looked like absolute glass. Sweet.

We arrived in the race area, found a park and made our way to transition. Bugger. Not so glass-like after all. In fact, quite lumpy, breezy and building.

Transition was busy, and cramped. I found a spot to squeeze into and set up. I’m definitely not one to muck around in transition - why prolong the suspense? Once you’ve double checked everything its just best to get out!

We found Mike’s swimmer, listened to the briefing, and then it was time to get into the wetsuit and head down the beach.

I was determined to have a bit more of a swim before the start in this race. I’d done a fun quadrathon with work on Friday and, even though it was just a short 300m swim, I’d really struggled to get comfortable in my suit. This time I decided I’d get those things sorted well before the gun went off.

The water was absolutely freezing! Much colder than the Blue Lake on Friday. Nothing for it but to get swimming, and then get lined up at the start line. To start with I made my way to the back lines, as I usually do. Then I suddenly decided that I’d had enough practice and it was time to start lining up at the front. I made my way into a spot and got ready to go. The gun went and I was off. All the open water swim practice really did pay off and my beat my way out of the flurry to find my own space.

The swim went as expected really. Not great, not bad. A highlight was being able to sprint out of the water and through transition, and another highlight was finishing about halfway through the field on the swim. A definite progression. And the good news just continued really.

Really quick transition and out onto the bike. On the way over to Tauranga I’d decided that a small goal for this event was to spend a lot of time on the aero bars. I’m not completely comfortable on them yet, but I knew it would pay off on this flat course. I’ve also trained on this course a few times now so I felt like I knew it. And it was time. As soon as I got onto the main road I went down onto the aero bars…and I just stayed there!

I had hoped to do the bike in 45 minutes. I reached the first turnaround point in just over 10 minutes. Fantastic! You should have seen the smile on my face, I was grinning from ear to ear. I knew if I could do that time in a strong wind I’d be looking at sub-45 minutes. I even managed to wave to Mike as we went by in the other direction.

I stayed strong on the bike on the next three legs and clocked the bike in just over 42 minutes. Stoked!

Heading into transition I had a small panic that I might have killed my legs on the ride and wouldn’t have anything left on the run. I’d done a trial run at the Mt two weeks ago and while I’d done a decent time, it was a hard reminder that its a challenging run. Heading out of the transition I had absolutely no idea how much I had left.

My second wee goal for this race was to wear my heart rate monitor so that I could pace myself on the run. I knew where I’d been sitting on the trial run, so used that as a benchmark. It took me a little while to get comfortable in the run. I knew I’d come out well on the swim, and that I had passed quite a few people on the ride, however, I knew that I would lose that on the run - I’m still a plodder.

The run went pretty well really. In fact I did the same time as I did on my trial run (44min), and that was adding a swim and a bike into the mix!

My third wee goal for this race was to finish under two hours. I’d gone well over two hours at Kinloch and I wanted to beat that. I was feeling so comfortable on the run that I actually had time and space in my head to start working out how far I had to go and what time I needed to be off the mountain in order to reach my goal. Unfortunately my stop watch hadn’t started for the swim so I had no idea how long that had taken. But I did know how long the bike was. By my calculation, I had to be off the Mt by 1h22 (bike/run combo).

When I hit the road off the Mt at 1h16 the grin came back. I knew I’d do under two hours. The challenge now would be to see how far under I could go.

I knew I had about 1km to go. By monitoring my heart rate, I knew how much I had left in me. I picked up the pace. By the time I hit the straight I was starting to speed up significantly, another few hundred metres and I was at my max. It felt absolutely fantastic to sprint the last 500m through the finish line.

1h49. Unbelievable!!

I knocked 21 minutes off my Kinloch time. Obviously a completely different course, but a sensational result even so. Absolutely stoked.

PS: Mike had a great ride and run as well. The James Triathlon train is underway.

Fortunately I did have a spare tyre with me - two actually. Unfortunately what I didn’t have was a pump. Also what I didn’t have was the knowledge and ability to actually change the tyre. It wasn’t all bad though, it was a last minute decision to actually take the saddle bag with me, along with its two spare tyres, so it could certainly have been a lot worse!

I was also very very lucky to be riding with the other two amigos - plus an extra amigo. Between the three of them they had the knowledge and ability to change the tyre, while I kept watch for cars and took photos on my phone!

Text to coach with photo.

Text back from coach:

“Three of you to change a tyre. One to hold the wheel, one to hold the pump and one to ring for instructions?”

However, as I pointed out to him, at least we were out there. And indeed we were. My flat tyre aside, we had a fantastic ride. The first one on the road for Mary Ann and I since our last events. Our route last weekend was largely dictated by the upcoming 100km Flyer cycle race between Rotorua and Taupo. That’s not an event that I am lining up for, however, Nina and Mary Ann are, so wanted to check out some of the course.

We drove out to Waiotapu and left the cars at the Pub. We headed down State Highway Five as fast as our pedals would take us. It turns out people drive very fast down that highway - including very large trucks - so we were pleased to finally get off the main road and head to Reporoa. Located literally halfway between Rotorua and Taupo, Reporoa is also the bike turnaround point for the Ironman - I have a feeling this is an area I’m going to get to know very well!

The 100km Flyer also includes a wider loop around the Reporoa countryside before taking the more direct route into Taupo. We headed off along this loop for an extremely pleasant ride. Very quiet (apart from our talking and laughing), lots of lush green paddocks, cows to talk to, trees and the odd farmhouse. It was largely flat, with a few little hills and we managed to boot along at a fairly decent clip. Until I got my flat tyre.

We had only just kicked off again after a short nutrition stop. I’ve never had a flat tyre before and was expecting a thump thump thump like on a car. But it was just really bumpy. I couldn’t work out if it was flat, or if it was just a really stoney road!

“Does my tyre look flat to you?” I asked Mary Ann.

“Yes!” she said, screeching to a halt and calling the others back.

I was able to successfully take the wheel off the tyre and get the spare out of the saddle back - but that was where my expertise ended. Nina whipped out her super duper wheely device aimed at getting the tyre off in a flash. Unfortunately, there was nothing flash about my tyre. I don’t know how long it had been since it was changed, however, the inner tube was completely stuck to the inside of my tyre! With a great deal of grimacing and grumping, the tyre was finally off. In went the new tube, slight pump and then finished off with an air canister. Nina has all the toys - Mary Ann and I were very jealous and I suspect a visit to Kiwi Bikes is on the way!

We eventually got back on the bikes and headed back onto a much shorter ride down State Highway Five towards the cars. A final hill to finish off and our ride was complete.

Great scenery, great ride, great company and lots of laughs.

Jenny (left), Mrs P (Mary Ann on bike) and Nina changing tyre!

What an incredible weekend. Its hard to know where to start. Ironman 2010 in Taupo, New Zealand, was everything I thought it would be - and more.

It was exciting, exhilirating, nerve-wracking, exhausting and most of all, absolutely and utterly inspiring.

I think I’m still digesting the weekend and what it means for me, as I visualise lining up at the start line this time next year. I was completely excited about going to watch the event - but also completely petrified. I hoped it wouldn’t scare the living daylights out of me.

Well, most importantly, it hasn’t. If anything, I actually feel a lot more comfortable about the whole thing. Comfortable and confident that if I do the hard hards, I will be crossing the line to hear the announcer say, Jacky James, you are an IRONMAN! I can visualise the steps in my mind and how most of it will come together. There is still a massive amount to learn about training, racing and this particular endurance event.

I’ll probably download some more later, but here are some highlights:

• Coach won his age-group! Wahoo! And he’s qualified for Kona! Double wahoo! Absolutely incredible to watch him race - I don’t think I had quite warned him enough about my passionate sports supporting, but he certainly couldn’t have missed my cheering!
• A number of RATs members crossing the line, but most heartwarming for me was Clarrie - an “older” competitor, determined to do his Ironman. We used to be in the same lane at swim squad and he is the dearest man. He had a great race, finishing in just over 14 hours. Awesome.
• Ripping around on bikes to catch all our people racing and making sure we didn’t miss a bit.
• Finding an amazing kebab shop for tea!
• And along with Coach’s efforts, the biggest highlight for me was my friend Stu from Kapiti Coast - we met through the Twitter triathlon network, we both work for the same Government organisation and we’re both working towards Ironman after battling demons - Stu this year and me next. I’ve followed his progress with growing excitement and respect. Even with all is training and busy family life, he still finds time to shoot me his latest inspirational thoughts. Eight months ago Stu couldn’t swim. Today, he is an IRONMAN! I met his wife for the first time at the swim exit - and saw him for the first time then as well! We followed his progress throughout the race, and I even rode out to near the run turnaround because I thought he might need some support on the last stretch. He had an incredible race, finishing just under 13 hours - 12h53m. Awesome.

And one final highlight…Mike wants to do an Ironman now too and is talking about 2012! Wahoo!