Iron Jack

My back creaks from neck to toe.

But not from sore muscles.

Unfortunately, I’m suffering from one of the worst cases of sunburn I have had in years and years.

Being a redhead, I’m generally pretty careful in the sun. I fry easily - I do then tan, unlike most redheds - but I definitely tend to pink very quickly.

I managed a quick 1km swim in the outdoor pool at lunchtime on Friday - and came out with a distinct tan line. I even reminded myself then, that after just 20 minutes I’d collected a tan so it was time to sort out some sunblock.

Saturday dawned fine and clear - slightly cool and a bit windy, but definitely one of those “summer is coming” kind of days. I’d already done my 6km run - and got very hot while doing it. I talked myself into the car and on to the pool. A 2km drill set with a few 500m lots at Ironman pace thrown in for good measure. I wasn’t convinced I was up for it but jumped in regardless. I was so focused on the fact that I didn’t want to be there, I completely forgot about the sun, and the crystal clear water which would amplify its rays.

As I headed off I really didn’t want to do 2km. In fact, for most of the swim I was battling it in my head. By the time I was halfway I decided to just do a bit more; by the time I’d done two-thirds I decided I may as well finish. I was also congratulating myself on my stroke which was decidedly better than its been in a while.

My 2km done I jumped straight out the pool, threw on a towel and headed home. After a quick shower and an even quicker nap (Toby is teething, oh happy days!) it was time to throw some glad rags on for a family photo. I was starting to feel a bit pink and sore on one shoulder - and noticed I’d developed a million new freckles on my forehead - in the shape of my bathing cap. Very attractive.

“I caught a bit of sun today,” I said to Mike as I jumped in the car. “I’m going to have to get sorted with some more sun block for the next swim.”

Several hours later I went to slap some aloe vera gel on my shoulder - and caught sight of the rest of it. Bright pink, the whole way down my back and down the back of my legs - all in the shape of my speedo togs. Ouch. Won’t be forgetting the sun block again!

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.

I had two training highlights last week – the first was going for a run with my husband, and the second was my swim in the Thorndon Pool in Wellington.

One week into the new job and I was off to Wellington to meet the national public affairs team. Back to back meetings over two days, a very early start to catch the red-eye flight, and gale-force winds that were even worse than usual, even for “windy Wellington”, meant that my training sessions down there had been limited. Alright, non-existent.

I got to the end of my second day’s programme and found myself with about and hour spare before I had to head to the airport. I sat there for about ten minutes arguing with myself about going to the pool.

“You know you should,” one half of my brain said.

“Yes, but I’m absolutely shattered and I have spin class tonight anyway,” said the other.

“Yes but you’re already a swim down and you need to make it up now.”

“I can make it up on Friday.”

“Which will mean four early morning starts in a row, you know you won’t do it.”

“Go away.”

“No, you go away!”

I stopped arguing with myself long enough to talk to my new-found colleagues about it. Their view was overwhelmingly in favour of going.

“But you better be quick,” says Lisa. “The pool closes in 30 minutes!”

Aaaaaargh. I finally decide to go and the pool is about to close on me. I hightailed it out the door and ran to the pool. The attendant informed me I could get out of the pool at 2pm, rather than needing to be out of the complex by 2pm. Phew. And their clock was five minutes slower than mind. Fantastic. Thirty seconds later I was in the water – I have never got changed to fast in my life. I stood on the side for about a second and dived into the water.

Bliss.

The Thorndon Pool is an outdoor swimming pool at the Beehive end of Wellington. For those non-kiwis, the Beehive is the political hub of New Zealand, thus the Beehive end is a thriving hub of Government departments. The pool is usually only open over summer, but was opening for just two hours over lunch-times for a short time while another council pool was closed. I lived in Wellington for two years from 1998 to 2000 and I had never swum in the Thorndon Pool – god knows why, it was absolutely amazing.

Yes, even though it was surrounded by a big wall it was still very windy. Yes the pool was full of leaves and twigs as a result of the gale force winds. But it was just fantastic. The sun was shining. And I was swimming. Awesome.

Because I only had less than 30 minutes, I decided to just swim a kilometre as fast as I could. No drills. Just freestyle. I clocked in at 24 minutes, my fastest kilometre ever. I don’t know whether it was the pool, or whether it was the first time I’d “just” swum for a while, but I’m definitely thinking the pool had a lot to do with it.

An hour later I was on the plane on my way home, very pleased I’d managed to fit in my swim.

Or, learning to swim (again) when you ain’t got gills. I don’t think that’s quite what Tom Petty had in mind with that line but it works for me.

So back to the pool yesterday for an emergency coaching session. I had an absolutely rotten swim on Tuesday. Everything hurt and I felt like my stroke had gone completely to pack. I felt like I was going slower than ever, splashing about all over the show, and not able to swim very far at all. It was a disaster.

Resulting text to Lawrence afterwards:

“I’m having a swim crisis, can you fit me tomorrow?”

So at 3:30pm I rocked up and swam a few lengths. Nope, still rubbish. Lawrence arrived to supervise the stroke.

“Not good eh?” I stated the obvious.

“Hmmm, there’s a few things going on,” he replied. Understatement of the year.

After my last coach session with him, it transpired I was swiping to the sides. I’m now over-compensating by pulling my arms completely under my body. Hands still floppy, not “catching” the water. Hands entering the water thumb or palm first, not very efficient orf effective. They need to be little finger first, arms curved like over a barrel, hands following the line underneath me down the middle of the pool.

But worst of all, after spending the last several months “re-learning” my stroke and stopping windmilling. I have gone far too far the other way, and am now playing “catchup” all the time. Basically I’m almost like a rowing skiff in the water, glide, stop, glide between each stroke, as opposed to continuous stroke and glide. No wonder I haven’t got any faster in the past there months.

So now I’m back to a hybrid windmill/glide that attempts to capture the best of both worlds.

Aaaaargh. Who would have thought that swimming, my strength, my sanity, would start becoming my biggest nightmare!

Back to the drawing board again tomorrow morning. We worked out a new swim/drill programme that will see me swimming just over 2km in a session - with hopefully some significant improvements as a result. Fingers crossed.

“It’s actually not that bad,” he said afterwards. “Definiately don’t beat yourself up about it, you could already do the 3.8km if the Ironman was next week and most people can’t say that. We’re just making it even better.”

“Okay.” I said.

An hour later and I was setting my bike up for Lawrence’s spin class with the Tri Club. It rocked. I’m still buzzing.