Iron Jack

Yesterday was one of the highlights in my journey towards 2011 NZ Ironman.

Yesterday marked many firsts:

• first ride on the road for weeks
• first cycle event
• first ride in my sexy new Specialized silver and pink shoes, with new cleats and pedals
• first ride on my “new” bike - freshly made over with new handlebars, seat and pefectly fitted for me
• first time I lost my chain out riding - situation successfully retrieved and back on the bike within five minutes
• first time I got overtaken by a whoooooshing peloton

The short report is that the ride went exceptionally well - the bike rocked - and I mean rocked! I know I’m saying that a lot at the moment, but it just encompasses the situation perfectly! I wanted to do 40km in under two hours. My dream time was 1h45 - I got 1h50. I didn’t fall off. I managed to get out of pedals okay. I fixed my chain. I really rode the hills. I passed loads of people. And I finished. It was awesome.

So here’s the detail!

It was a beautiful day. And I mean stunning. Four other very cool triathlon chicks met at our house at 8:30am to get the cars loaded and underway. I kissed the family good-bye and we were off.

And within 10 minutes we were in pea-soup fog and the temperature had dropped to 2 degrees. Bugger.

We arrived at Okoroire to find a glum, dull, bitterly freezing day. We ripped through registration and then the big dilemma about what to wear. Full jacket? Vest? How many layers of thermals? The sun was starting to peak through the clouds and, given how stunning it was in Rotorua, I opted for a thermal layer (top and bottom) and my hi-vis vest. I loaded everything into my back pockets (and I do mean everything - I think I was carrying more than I manage to fit into my handbag!) and we headed for the start line.

There were two distances - 40km and 70km. I had opted for the shorter distance for a number of different reasons. Due to sickness, major discomfort on the bike - and basically a major lack of confidence - I hadn’t been on the road for weeks. Even though I felt pretty good about my new bike setup and my new seat, I didn’t want to get stuck out in the wops with a sore bum and no way to get home. I knew if that happened, I could probably kiss the bike - and Ironman - good-bye.

So the primary objectives of riding yesterday were to try out the new setup and new gear, ride in a cycle event with 1000 other riders - and basically just try and get some confidence back.

Mission well and truely accomplished.

I started towards the back of the 40km riders, but very very quickly made up dozens of places. I felt great. The bike felt amazing. I was kicking it up the hills. It was a gorgeous day, we were in a gorgeous rural area and life was just pretty darn good!

Everything was going pretty well until I hit the next hill. I changed from the big gear ring to the small - and completely lost traction. I looked down to find the chain hanging under the bike. Bugger. This situation has always played on my mind. I’ve always wondered if I could get out of my pedal without falling over. I wasn’t concerned about putting the chain back on - but I was very worried about getting off the bike!

As it turns out, no problem! Five minutes later and I was scooting down the hill in order to turn around and head back up again.

I did find it hard going out on the highway - really rough, large chip which was really rough on the hands. But otherwise, the ride went really, really well. I was in and out of the saddle up the hills. Passing people on the flats. I got down on the aerobars for a while - and even down on the drops - now that’s a breakthrough! (Of course, thanks to the new bike setup I can actually reach them which is a bonus!) No sore back. No sore shoulders. No sore neck. And by far most importantly, NO SORE BUM!!

Before I knew it I was half way. Before I knew it I had just five kms to go. I looked at my clock. I didn’t think I could quite make 1h45, but I knew I wouldn’t be far off. I put my head down and went for it.

1h50 across the line.

And I loved it. The confidence is back and I can’t wait to get back out there again. Breakthrough.

PS: The cool triathlon chicks also had really good rides with some fantastic times. Congrats!

PPS: Outstanding line from a Kiwi Twitter triathlon friend last night which made me laugh out loud: It doesn’t Matamata, everything will be Okoroire! Thanks @Toni_Knowles and her grandfather Jack Murphy - this part of the Waikato will never be the same!

I have a brand new bike.

Well, practically a brand new bike and it certainly feels like a brand new bike to me.

I have…new seat…new handlebars…new stem thing…new RED handlebar tape…and a new setup, done by video analysis to ensure its the perfect setup for me. This is all to go with my incredibly cool and sexy new silver and pink Specialised shoes.

In short, the mighty red and black Specialised bike rocks. And its all thanks to the awesome team at Cyclezone in Rotorua, who literally haven’t rested until the bike was sorted.

It started with me visiting the shop to get new cleats and pedals. My old ones had just about worn through, so on Coach’s instructions, it was off to the shop to get new ones. In the course of getting the new cleats and pedals, a lengthy discussion ensued about how much I hate the bike, how uncomfortable and sore I get, how numb my feet get, about how my bottom gets sore and gives up well before my legs do. I just thought these were all things that, as an amateur cyclist, I just had to live with.

Well, it turns out you don’t. To be fair, it was probably the first time I had really voiced my concerns about the bike and how fed up I was with the bike. I think I knew that I was reaching a real crunch point. I couldn’t stand to spend any more than two hours on it - yet I knew that for the Ironman I would need to spend around seven hours on the bike and complete a 180km bike course. The thought of that scared the living daylights out of me.

So perhaps it was desperation, but I’m really glad we had that conversation!

The Cyclezone team have now been tweaking things for a few weeks - literally a bit here and a bit there. It started with the shoes - my old ones were way too flat - so they got sold on Trade Me and the sexy silvers ones started gracing my wind trainer. Then we trialled a new seat. After an agonising spin session sitting on my nerves we figured that wasn’t the one for me! Then this week I booked in for a lengthy video analysis session to tackle as much as could without getting a whole new bike.

“The bike’s actually too big for you,” says Bryce, owner of Cyclezone.

“Really?” That’s the first time anyone had said that!

A quick measure agreed with Bryce’s view and then the video analysis triple confirmed it.

That’s when the real work started - I’m sure all the pieces of the old handlebars on the floor just made it look worse than what it was! A shorter bike stem and new handlebars reduced the length of the bike by about 4cm - or at least I think that’s what they said! We trialled a new seat and raised the height significantly.

I jumped on again to check the angles. It felt like a completely different bike. I still can’t quite get over the difference it made. It was immediately obvious how far I had been stretching - no wonder I ended up with a sore back, sore shoulders and a headache. And the seat was immediately different as well.

Now that it’s sorted, I can’t believe I had been riding with it like that for so long. I was actually looking forward to getting on it to go for a ride - now that’s a breakthrough!

The real test will be the next big ride - Okoroire this weekend. Watch this space!

Me and the author of my "new" ride - Bryce from Cyclezone!

“Just think of it this way,” the text from Ironman Stu said. “This is your Christmas break.”

Nothing like a reality check from chief motivator Stu.

I’ve been incredibly sick for seven days now, and haven’t trained in that time and won’t be for a few more days yet. Tonscillitis, combined with a nasty sinus infection has meant no breath, little sleep and grumpy tendencies.

We’re currently on holiday in Auckland and I had a sensational training week planned - a 10km road race on Sunday, a spin class with the North Harbour Triathlon Club on Tuesday, lots of running around the waterfront and a few spin sessions to keep the legs ticking over. Not only have I achieved none of that, I’ve barely been able to make it out of bed to enjoy the incredible weather that Auckland has turned on. We’ve also had to change our holiday plans and a few days in Tairua, Coromandel, is now also off the cards.

To say that I’ve been feeling miserable, sick and very sorry for myself would be the understatement of the century.

But, as Stu inadvertently reminded me with his text, there is always a silver lining and finding the “glass half full angle” is my speciality - in fact its what’s expected of me.

So, yes Stu is right, this is my Christmas holiday, because there certainly won’t be one come 25 December. Training will step up significantly in September and from December, it will be all on. I seem to recall Stu saying earlier this year that the main goal of training the year before Ironman is to hit the last three months of training injury free, and to be mentally and physically ready to put in the hard yards. That all rings very true to me just now.

So while I’m frustrated not to be able to make the most of the sunshine and hit the waterfront for a run, this is my time to have a break and I am making the very most of resting as much as I can and focusing on getting well. I still have several months of groundwork to do before peak training, so its vital that I’m well truely over the bugs so I can hit the ground running.

232 days to go.

Now, where’s that glass? Its time for a refill.

This winter has largely been defined by two things: tonscillitis (now twice!) and Chicken and Corn Soup. We are currently making and consuming it by the gallon! Here’s the recipe:

Chinese Chicken and Corn Soup

1 litre good quality chicken stock

2 x 200g chicken breasts (if I’m running out of time I just get a cooked chicken from the supermarket)

1 tin creamed corn

1 tin whole kernel corn

1 T peanut oil

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 t grated fresh ginger

2 T light soy sauce

1T Chinese rice wine

1 egg

Bring the stock to simmering point, add the chicken and cook. Remove the chicken and when cool, shred.

Heat a wok over medium-high heat, add the oil and swirl to coat. Add garlic an dginer and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Then add stock, corn, soy sauce and rice wine. Stir until soup comes to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the chicken. Beat the egg and then stir into soup – this helps thicken it. Re-heat to simmer and then remove from heat. Enjoy!

I’m a winter girl, always have been, always will be. Much as I love swimming in the sea over summer, I can’t wait for those first chilly mornings when I can break out my funky tights, winter coat and knee-high boots.

But I am seriously over winter this year.

Well actually, I’m not over the crisp, gorgeous days, with frost crunching underfoot and a winter sun in the sky. Those days can keep on coming.

I’m over the winter ills that appear to be zooming in on our family, making it extremely difficult to make progress with training - or work for that matter!

Mike and I have been fighting off colds for a few weeks, and every time we think we’ve shaken it, the scratchy throat comes back to remind us that its still lingering, just around the corner. And unfortunately for the boys, after a few months of chilly temperatures, rain and a series of colds, they seem to have lost all resistance completely. Toby currently has an ear infection, a heavy cold verging on bronchitis and this afternoon a temperature hitting 39 degrees - just when we thought he was getting better! And then Oli came down hard and fast with a decent dose of tonscillitis today, also with a temperature in the 39s. As a result, we haven’t had a decent night’s sleep since Friday and frankly,  that light at the end of the tunnel seems a very, very long way away!

So, what happens with training when you’re sick, tired and generally overwhelmed? In short, at the  moment, I’m just trying to muddle through.

I had a great swim session with Nina last night, immediately followed by an outstanding spin session with Coach and the club. Am resting and dosing up on lemon honey drinks, vitamins and good food today, and will do a spin and a swim tomorrow evening, working from home during the day while the boys are sick on the couch. I’ll aim for an easy run on Friday evening, before packing the car and heading away on holiday for a week on Saturday. My main priority is getting to the 10km Run Auckland run on Sunday morning. My goal was to beat 1h13 - at the moment, my goal might be to finish!

On the hugely positive side, I have an incredibly supportive workplace where family comes first. We also live in an amazing place, have awesome friends and family, jobs, food in the cupboard and an awesome little family unit. So live ain’t all bad.

Now, if I can just get a few hours sleep…

In an exciting new development in the Ironjack journey, I am proud to be supporting the Silver Ribbon Foundation, by creating awareness and raising money for its cause.

The Silver Ribbon Foundation was initially established as the Leonie Coates Gynaecological Cancer Charitable Trust. The Trust was established four years ago, with a bequest from Leonie Coates’ family to raise awareness about gynaecological cancers and to provide support to women who suffer from any kind of gynaecological cancer, including ovarian, cervical, virginal and others.

The Trust’s mission is to educate the community to raise awareness about all gynaecological cancers and support those affected. 

Sadly, in New Zealand, one woman dies every day from a gynaecological cancer. Early detection saves lives. A smear test detects abnormalities that may lead to cervical cancer, however, a smear test cannot detect ovarian, uterine, vulval/vaginal cancers. It’s vital that every woman knows the symptoms for early detection. It may save your life – or the life of someone you know.

I have decided to support the Silver Ribbon Foundation for very personal reasons. In 1999, after a series of abnormal results from smear tests, I underwent a lletz procedure to remove cancerous cells from my cervix. I have been clear ever since, but it was a scare I am anxious not to be repeat. Then, tragically, last year, our close friends and our own family lost a dear and wonderful Mum, Aunt and friend to ovarian cancer. We miss her every day.

I will be using the Ironjack journey to help achieve the Silver Ribbon Foundation’s goals of raising awareness of gynaecological cancers in the community, as well as raising money for their cause. You can donate to the Silver Ribbon Foundation through the Ironjack fundraising site http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/ironjack/

For further information about the Silver Ribbon Foundation and the signs and symptoms of gynaecological cancers, check out www.silverribbon.co.nz

I hope you will help me support this important cause.