Iron Jack

I have often compared Ironman training and childbirth - usually when I’m slogging my way up some hill in Waikite Valley. Most of the time I’m swearing black and blue that childbirth is easier!

And today I can confirm that some of the aftermath and recovery from a big bike ride are exactly the same!

Today I finally rode the Taupo Half Ironman route. The Taupo Half Ironman is now less than two weeks away. I’m completely petrified. But that’s another story.

Another 5:30am start saw me breakfasted and collecting today’s riding buddy, Deborah, just after 6am. Rather than drive all the way to Taupo, we parked at Reporoa and road the route in reverse, down Broadlands Rd to Taupo and back again. This is also the full Ironman route - albeitthe full route takes in two laps. I had tried to ride this route once before with Mike - it didn’t end well!

So it was with some trepidation that I set off this morning. First and biggest mistake today - trialling some new chafing cream. I’m out of Bodyglide, but have also found some other cream that is doing the job even better. I’d run out, they don’t sell it at my bike shop and so I tried a new one - highly recommended by my bike shop and many others. And our club legend Jamie (who rode the Extreme Enduro 8x laps of Lake Taupo non-stop last week!!) swears by it.

But it didn’t work for me. We’d only done an hour and my bottom was absolutely burning. I was really worried I was going to open up my wound it was so sore.

I managed to put it to the back of my mind into Taupo - got off the bike for a toilet stop and actually felt pretty comfortable and more than capable of riding the 45km back. We set off again - this time to tackle the Napier-Taupo Highway hill. This hill keeps me awake at night. When I first left Auckland to take up my first journalism job at age 21, I flatted just off the Highway - and I recalled many a late night stumbling up or down the hill or my way to or from the pub. Today, I got up it no problem. It wasn’t a speedy climb, but it was fine, and nowhere near as bad as some of the hills we’ve been climbing in the Waikite Valley! So that was a big mental achievement.

Next were a series of quite quick downhills, managed to catch up a lot of speed and increase my average. Very happy. And then, with about 20km to go, all on the flat, my bottom really let me down. Every pedal stroke was an absolute burn. It was agony. I literally crawled my way home.

On the plus side, I did it, quicker than I thought - even with crawling the last 20km. My average speed was better than ever before. I know I can ride up the Napier-Taupo Highway hill and I have ridden the Taupo Half Ironman route. On the down side, a sore bum is just the pits and can ruin the ride - and your speed.

So lesson learnt, stick to the chafing cream I know and love!

Which brings me to childbirth.

When I came home from hospital with Oli nearly six years ago, my sister-n-law presented me with a tupperware container containing a pad which had been frozen in a tea tree oil and water solution. Just the trick for sore, tender bottoms apparently.

And it was! Absolutely bliss, numbs the area and the tea tree oil helps take care of any bacteria that might be hanging around.

So here I am, back to the beginning. And I can confirm, that an old wives tale for soothing sore tender bits after childbirth is just the best thing ever for a numb, sore bumb after a long bike ride! Thanks Sarah!

After a week without training, and still with a fairly decent dose of a head cold, I was absolutely determined to get out for my week’s “long ride”. With just under two months to go until the Half Ironman, I am really conscious that I need to get some serious miles under my belt – or under my tyres as it were.

So even though I was still feeling very much under the weather, I had arranged to meet my friend Mary-Ann halfway into town. I set the alarm for 6:30am. Incidentally – who sets their alarm for 6:30am on a weekend? Clearly I am completely mad.

I was up before the alarm went off anyway – the alarm clock that is Toby went off well before 6:30am!

Usual story. I fuelled my body, suited up, took some deep breaths and headed out the door.

Halfway up the road I realised my tyres were seriously flat. I berated myself yet again. I always try to be so prepared, but I always miss something. I couldn’t turn back though – we had arranged to each leave at 7:30am and meet somewhere in the middle.

I had a reasonable ride into town – considering I couldn’t really breathe and had tyres that were flat as a pancake!

I eventually spotted another flash of fluro yellow heading down the road towards me. After flipping a u-turn on the main road, the usual discussion about where to go ensued. We decided to go for a very leisurely ride around the lake – me because I was struggling with my cold, and Mary-Ann because it had been a few weeks since she’d been out on the road. But first we headed back to Mary-Ann’s house so I could pump up my tyres.

First lesson of the day. It turns out, that if you don’t unscrew the end on the valve, you don’t pump any air into your tyres. At all. No wonder they keep going flat, despite me spending lots of time “pumping” them up.

We headed back out again. I was finding it quite a hard ride I have to say.

Mary-Ann is much faster than me, but we had agreed that she should just go on ahead and I would get there eventually. She was doing me a huge favour by keeping me company – and in turn I was doing her a favour by actually getting her off the wind trainer and onto the road! A great arrangement and a great team!

I finally caught her up after she had stopped to wait for me by the Tauranga Direct Road.

“I’m doing it really hard today,” I panted.

“You do realise you’re in your big chain ring don’t you,” she asked in return.

Unbelievable. I felt like such a winner (said with complete sarcasm and meaning a complete dick!) Second lesson of the day.

Fortunately I was out riding with the woman who has fallen off her wind trainer twice at our spin sessions, and put a hole in her wetsuit immediately after our coach told her to cut her nails! Third and fourth lessons of the day to keep in mind!

We’re both of the firm view that this whole thing has to be fun – if it’s not, it’s not worth doing. Yes we’re both very serious about it, but by god we’re going to have a good laugh as well.

Once I’d stopped splitting my sides we carried on.

With a strong head and cross wind, it was a long ride around the lake. But good.

We went our separate ways at Fairy Springs Road and I rode the rest of the way home.

In a continuation of the comedy of errors that was our ride, both of us had forgotten to re-start our bike computers after one of our stops, so neither of us had any idea exactly how far we had ridden – or for how long.

When I got home I headed straight for the computer to map the route. Nearly 65km. Fantastic! My longest ride yet and my longest time on the bike. It gave me a fantastic confidence boost and I finally feel like I will be able to do the ride section of the Half Ironman. I’m nearly there and I now know I can do it.

A great ride. A fantastic riding companion. All good.

It was a cold, crisp evening as about ten of us lined up our bikes and wind trainers facing Rotorua’s Blue Lake. It had been a stunning day, warm in town, and I’d been looking forward to the season’s new brick training session all day.

RATs, our local Tri club, has spent winter Wednesday nights spinning in a local gym. Its usually packed with up to 40 plus people lined up with bikes, wind trainers and extremely loud music doing super-efficient spinning sessions with Lawrence. With the onset of daylight savings, and the 2009/10 tri season, winter Wednesdays have made way for outdoor brick sessions instead.

You couldn’t ask for a more picturesque setting. Rotorua’s Blue and Green lakes are located about 10 minutes drive from town, and are renowned as one of the must-see tourist spots in New Zealand. When you stand at the lookout in between, one lake - the Blue or Tikitapu - looks electric blue to the eye; turn around and you take in the Green lake or Rotokakahi, which looks a sea-green.

In summer we use the lake for open water swim training, we run around the lake on a 5.5km forestry trail, we bike on road and in forest across the area. Its an amazing outdoor wonderland and its right on our back doorstep. Lucky? You bet.

So anyway, we line up on the lakefront on our stationery bikes. Yes I am the first to admit that we must have looked like a bunch of idiots. A cold bunch of idiots at that. My day-long daydream about how we would be sitting in the sun, in front of a still, crystal lake was rapidly blown as soon as I arrived. It was blowing hard and straight into shore. So we’re sitting on our stationery bikes, with five layers on, and blue fingers and lips.

And we’re off. A very intense spin session (approximately 10 minutes), designed to mimic a hard road ride. A loud shout from Lawrence and we’re jumping off the bikes, into our running shoes, and taking off up the hill on the first of two laps. I thought I was going to be sick. I reached the top of the hill, rounded the cone and honestly thought I was about to keel over - this is, of course, on the back of a serious tummy bug where I had lost five kilos in four days. But I made it back around the bikes, and around again for the second lap.

Back on the bike for the next spin session. Long and hard. And off again for another two laps. And then the next spin session and off for a three lap run. And a final burst and then cool-down.

It was the hardest training session I’ve ever done. I hurt everywhere. And I LOVED it! I was on the biggest buzz and am still buzzing today, over 24 hours later. Of course I can’t walk properly because I hurt so much, but I’m already counting the sleeps until the next one.

I had an amazing bike ride today around the stunning countryside of Hawkes Bay - and a great time to boot!

We’re away for the weekend visiting old friends from Rotorua. We used to spend nearly every second evening with Lou and Aaron when we first moved to Rotorua. Our four year old adores them, and their three year old, and Toby has quickly joined the fan club. They left Rotorua in February - just after I became addicted to triathlon.

Aaron has always been a huge cycling fan, often taking off for four hour rides on both days of the weekend, and fitting in a cool three hours after work during the week. We’ve always given him grief for it. That was before I got bitten by the bug. Not only was I gutted when my best girlfriend left our town, I lost a potential riding buddy as well!

So naturally one of the first things that got packed before we left Rotorua was my bike, shoes, gloves and all other accompanying accessories. The first thing Aaron did when we arrived was take the bike to pieces to clean it, grease it, and generally give it the once over that apparently I should be doing every week. Ooops.

We saddled up just after lunch, I was pretty nervous about heading out. Fortunately I had one thing going for me - Aaron is recovering from major knee surgery. He had a serious workplace accident nearly a year ago when he got felled by the tree he was meant to be felling. Twelve months, major physio and eventually knee surgery later, he’s back on the bike and heading for the Round Taupo Cycle Challenge. A huge inspiration.

The other thing I had going for me was the fact that Hawkes Bay is beautifully flat - not dis-similar to the cycle leg of the Tauranga Half Ironman. A good chance to spin my wheels and test my legs after the hard work I’ve done over the past few weeks.

We headed out. Amazing scenery - unbelievable to ride past literally miles of vines - and several historical churches surrounded by old cemetries. The sort of scenery and places you just don’t notice so much when you whizz by in the car.

As I said along the way, now I get it.

Of course I had to pick a few sandflies out of my teeth on the way around, and I had to stop to use the toilet at a tavern in the middle of nowhere, but a fantastic ride. Forty kilometres in 1h46 - a great time for me, giving me a massive boost of confidence for the Half.

Just wanted to finish with this quote from Lance Armstrong that was posted by my dear friend, Lisa Whyte (and fellow cyclist - but again, I caught the bug after she left the country!). Thanks Lise!

“Pain is temporary, it may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year. But eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever” - Lance Armstrong

Forgive me father for I have sinned…its been over two weeks since my last blog post!

But that doesn’t mean that the training has stopped - it just means that our lives are even more manic than usual, and that I may have even broken my own record in my level of busy-ness.

The new job is amazing - I’m in my happy place and I feel like its the job I’ve been waiting my whole life for. I don’t think many people get to say that about their place of work so I do feel very privileged. Its also regularly a manic adrenalin rush, which has taken me closer to my triathlon goals than I ever would have thought - and I mean literally closer, as in right on top of both the Ironman and the Half Ironman course!

With five minutes notice, last week I found myself holed up in the Mt Maunganui police station, overlooking the swim course and transition area for the Tauranga Half Ironman in January. If I squinted my eyes I could just picture the excitement and chaos of race day. And it only scared me a little bit!

The week before, work had taken me to Taupo. Rather than just drive straight down State Highway 5, I decided to drive into town on the Ironman cycle route - I’m still not sure if that was a good idea or not! The turnaround point for the Taupo Ironman cycle stage is Reporoa, a tiny country town that is home to a dairy factory, a school, a general store, veterinary clinic and not much more.

We’ve based ourselves at the turnaround point for two Ironman events so far - the first time to cheer on a close friend (and accountant!), and this year to see the leaders go around for the second time. That’s right. Its not just a long way into town - you have to do it twice!

Now that I’ve spent a bit more time on the bike, I’ve started looking at these roads in a whole new way. The route is certainly a lot flatter than I remembered it being the last time I drove that way. For the most part, its long and straight, with just a few undulating hills - apart from the climb out of Taupo township on the way out. It seemed to take a very long time to drive that day. And this time I’m not afraid to say I was scared just a little bit.

The main training highlights in recent weeks have been on the bike and in the pool. Apparently I’ve made a massive improvement in my swimming stroke, so hopefully that bodes well for improving my times. Swim squad at 6am is going really well. In fact I love it and I really struggle now to swim on my own.

And, the bike has indeed become my friend and I miss it if I don’t get out on it several times a week! Hills are also becoming my friend, and I’m getting much faster. I rode around Lake Rotorua on Sunday - 50km - and I did it 20 minutes faster than the last time, which gave me a huge boost.

The other big highlight has been the people I’ve met and the new friendships I’ve made just in the last couple of weeks. The online triathlon community just keeps getting stronger and is hugely supportive and motivating. At the same time, I’ve met many like-minded people here in Rotorua with similar goals and speeds and we’ve formed new little training groups for swimming and cycling. Its much easier to get out the door when you know you’re due to meet someone at Lane One! I’ve also met new people around New Zealand who are also working towards big goals. Its good to share the good times - and the bad - and it all helps make you feel like you’re not the only one slogging it out every day and weekend to get to the finish line. What a team.

“Are you going riding tomorrow?” I asked a colleague at a posh do on Friday night.

“Nope,” he grimaced. “Bad back. You?”

“Yup, tomorrow I’m riding the Tinman course at Mt Maunganui,” I boasted proudly. “Its completely flat, the Mt to Papamoa, really looking forward to it.”

“Oh bugger about the flats,” he said. “You want to ride around the lake here, at least its undulating.”

“I’ve been around the lake here,” I boasted again. “And I’m over the hills and looking forward to the flats.”

After he left the table I leaned over and whispered to my husband, “why on earth wouldn’t you want to do flats?”

He shrugged, agreed he was mad and got on with the show.

Well, aren’t I just eating some humble pie now?

Yesterday Oli and I drove over to Mt Maunganui - its a coastal surf town attached to Tauranga City. I’ve been holidaying there my whole life, as my grandparents retired there when I was about five. Every school holidays was spent at their house, hanging out at the beach and walking up “the Mt”. Now we live in Rotorua its only 45 minutes away. I’m sorry to say that we still don’t get over there often enough, but we try to make the most of it when we do.

My folks were going to visit my Nana for the weekend. So I thought it was the perfect opportunity to ride the bike leg of the Tinman, which I’m racing on December 6. I’m doing the Standard distance - 1500m swim, 40 km ride and 10 km run. It will be the longest distance for me yet, and hopefully good preparation for the Half Ironman almost exactly one month later. According to the Tinman website, www.tinmantriathlon.co.nz its 104 days, 13 hours, 47 minutes and 48 seconds and counting until splash off.

The forecast was perfect, so for the first time all winter I didn’t need to wear my long johns - good bye to the stripes! It was fantastic to get out in shorts and a T-shirt, summer is coming! I planned to ride from my Nana’s house into the Mt - the opposite way to race day - and from there out to the turnaround point at Papamoa and then back to my Nana’s.

I pedalled off, successfully negotiating the traffic lights at the end of the road and managing to unclip my bike clips with plenty of time before the red light. A good start.

After just a short while I ended up on the long straight road into the Mt. Riding along I could see the Mt ahead of me, looming in the distance, and to my right I could see the beautiful blue sea, with crisp white surf banging into the beach. Loving it.

I was managing to keep my cadence up in the late 80s and 90s for most of the way, every now and then breaking over 100. My legs were spinning well and I was loving it. I also thought I was going really fast. Funny how pride always comes before a fall - not a literal fall - but a knock to the pride regardless. I got to the foot of the Mt in what I thought would be record time.

I should know better, turnaround points are always a mental problem for me. I always think I’ve gone further than I actually have, then I realise that I’ve got even further to go, I get despondent, I slow down and it all turns to custard. Need I say more. I’d done the 12km in 33 minutes - just a fraction faster than standard times on undulating roads. Gutted. I thought I had gone a lot further, a lot faster.

So I turned around and started heading out to Papamoa. My legs were starting to get really tired and I was really annoyed with myself. And then I realised what Greg was meaning about the flats. You don’t get any break from them. Your legs need to keep spinning all the time. At least with hills and undulating ground you get to rest on the way down. Not so with flats, major reality check. Something Lawrence said about “hills being my friend” also started to tick away in my mind. Okay, thanks guys, I’ve got it now.

By this time I was feeling thoroughly annoyed with myself and fed up. All of a sudden I came up to the turnaround point.

“This can’t be right,” I thought to myself. “It’s not nearly far enough.”

I suddenly had this sneaky feeling that perhaps the route required two laps. Two laps of the flat, straight, ‘never-get-a-break’ ride. Bugger.

I went a bit further than the turnaround point, mainly to get some more time on the bike, because I knew I didn’t have time to do two laps. The first thing I did when I got home was check the site, yup, two laps.

There are a number of positives to take from this ride - despite the disappointments.

(a) it was a beautiful day and I was out in it, exercising, and lots of other people were just standing in line for ice-cream

(b) I can easily ride 26km just like that, when in January I struggled to ride 10km

(c) I now know what to expect for the Tinman and Half Ironman (same course) so I will be mentally prepared

104 days, 13 hours, 34 minutes and 10 seconds until splash-off…and counting.

My riding shoes are propped up in front of the fire - with a steady stream of water pouring out of them.

You may recall that these are the riding shoes that cost the same as a pair of decent leather high-heeled boots and they symbolise a major turning point in my quest to do Ironman in 2011. And I actually love them as much as I love my red high-heeled boots, which is really saying something.

Back to the water.

Its been raining in Rotorua for six days straight. I realise that’s not a great advertisement for our wonderful town, but hey, its winter and its a fact of life. 

This week’s RATs bunch ride had been arranged out in the Waikite Valley - a gorgeous farming valley only 10 minutes drive from the centre of town. After last week’s ride in the fog on busy main roads, we decided to take it out of town for a while. And I’d been looking forward to it all week! When the alarm went off this morning, (after a really heavy night of rain), it was dry and there were even patches of blue sky. I texted Irene, our camp mother:

“What do you reckon? It’s dry here.”

“Raining here, just moving stock, will decide in 30 minutes.”

Thirty minutes later it had stopped raining out there, and starting raining here, but we were on. I bundled the bike on the car and headed out. It was raining when I left home and it was absolutely pouring down by the time I got to town. It didn’t get any better on the other side or on the drive out to Waikite.

I arrived at the Bluff Sports Club - should have taken a photo, if that wasn’t a typical Kiwi country rugby club I don’t know what is.

It was just sprinkling lightly by this stage so we decided to “just do it”.

Irene, Cheryl and myself headed off. Straight up a hill. I am getting better at the hills but there is no way I can catch Irene, she’s a demon. Before we even reached the top of that first hill it was raining hard. And it didn’t stop.

It was actually a great ride. Very hilly and undulating with a few flats in between. On a nice day it would be absolutely gorgeous. Lush green paddocks, farm animals as far as the eye could see. Shame I couldn’t see anything out of my rain speckled glasses.

It was also a great learning ride for me as it was the first time I had ridden in heavy rain - actually any rain at all come to think of it. I have nightmares about skidding off my bike, so it was great to head down some hills, trust the brakes, and get around some corners. I also spent a bit of time standing up on the pedals today too, and while the hills are still hard work, they are getting easier.

The talking got less and less as we got wetter and wetter. An hour later we got back to the clubhouse and headed off. Cold, wet but happy.

Saturday morning dawned cold, bright, clear and windy - very windy. But having postponed a ride the day before, I knew it was time to literally get on my bike.

I looked spectacular, if I do say so myself. Reebok compression tights, Reebok compression top - both on the bottom layer. Next layer, olive green thermal top, padded bike banks. Next layer, Reebok windbreaker jacket, purple stripey long johns - the sexiest pants you have ever seen. Next layer, fluro yellow cycling top. Boootiful.

I met fellow RATs club member Irene in town just after 9am, dropping Oli at a friend’s house on the way in. We saddled up and headed out of town, deciding to ride around Mt Ngongotaha. I hadn’t done this ride before, but had wanted to for a while, I just didn’t want to do it on my own. We live in a suburb just out of town called Ngongotaha and our block looks onto the mountain. Even though I grew up in Auckland, we are so at home here that I claim it as my maunga - or mountain, which is what anchors me.

We took a slightly longer, less busy route to get there. This route ended with a nasty hill taking us onto another very nasty hill that was the beginning of the around mountain ride. Nasty. Irene absolutely kicked my arse. She has been riding a lot longer than me and this was really only my second proper ride, but even so, she cranked up the hills. At some places I felt like I was practically going backwards! But I’d get around the corner and she would always be there waiting for me.

There were about three killer hills on that lefthand stretch of the mountain. Cold, icy, up. Then we whizzed down into Paradise Valley - very carefully given some of the ice patches around.

“That was a bit better,” I breathed as we rounded up at the bottom.

“Yeah, but you know what - now that we’ve come down, we’ve gotta climb out!” she said cheerily.

We both agreed that the way out and up this side was a lot easier going than the initial hill sections. And it was. Stunning actually. Sunny, views out over farms and native bush. Just gorgeous actually. I loved it. There were still some hills, but I was finally brave enough to try and get up on my pedals - what a difference. I can’t go for very long standing up, but it was a bit of a breakthrough. Every hill we can across for the rest of the ride, I stood up. Awesome.

We eventually came out on the main highway and rode back into town - into a head wind. We eventually made it back to the cars two hours and 31 kilometres later. Way too slow for me for the Half Ironman in January, but a good breakthrough ride and definately a confidence booster. Looking forward to the next one.