My first event of the season was the Napier Half marathon (20th Oct). It was a hot day but I felt well prepared for it. Greg was away so the hardest thing was probably getting to Napier and sorting the kids on the morning of the race by myself, rather than the race itself. I got cramp in my feet from about 17km but managed to push through and finished in a great time of 2hrs16mins.
7km Into the Napier Half marathon
The weeks following were leading up to the Taupo Cycle Challenge - 160km around Lake Taupo. My coach Zippy had me doing lots of cycling which probably helped my running as on the Thursday before the Rotorua Half marathon (24th Nov), I decided to change my 10km entry to the half marathon distance. The race itself wasn't great with an upset tummy in the morning but I managed to finish in 2hrs 15 which was a bit of a surprise! I also managed to make it to 19km before the cramp hit. But sculling a bottle of cramp stop seemed to cure it!!
The Cycle Challenge was the following weekend (30th Nov) so I was pretty shattered after the half marathon but still having to plug away at training during my 'taper' week. I have now realised that 'taper/recovery' weeks are going to be few and far between!
The Cycle challenge was awesome. A real mix of fear and excitement. Last year I completed the last 80km, which at the time I thought was pretty rough. I now know that it is actually the easier leg to complete as those hills in the first 80km are shockers! It helped having Lee-Anne and Katrina with me to dull the pain, laugh a bit, moan and swear a bit and to generally drag me along! I got cramp again at around 120km but just managed it with cramp stop. The last 40km was horrendous. The weather had completed packed up and we were having to battle with head/side winds coming down seriously scarey hills and a head wind all the way into town. Still managed to finish with a smile and sense of euphoria at how well I felt! Lee-Anne and I finished together in 6hrs 53mins
Lee-Anne and I down the finishing chute of the Taupo Cycle Challenge
Training resumed again immediately and the lead up to the Rotorua Half Ironman wasn't how I had hoped it would be. I came into the lead up week feeling utterly exhausted. My ankle joint hurt every time I ran and so I pulled back on the running in the lead up week. I had a sore throat and was just generally shattered. I had hoped to shave a good deal off my time this year as I had a shocking run last year, but it wasn't going to be. Everything seemed a struggle and although I felt physically stronger, just nothing seemed to fire on the day. I got cramp in my legs around the same spot as last year on the bike but unfortunately it didn't seem to go away. I reached the transition to the run seriously considering pulling out as I just couldn't get my legs to move without horrendous pain from cramp. It was then I realised this was going to be an exercise in strengthening my mind/will, not in endurance! I pushed through every excruciating step and managed to finish 7mins faster than last year in 7hrs 27. The run course was also almost 1km longer so I had made a significant gain, but I still felt a little gutted.
Heading down the finishing chute of the Rotorua Half Ironman.
I have had a few weeks or so of serious thought about my nutrition and also training in relation to what went on that day. In doing a bit of research on cramp, I have realised that it was probably a case of not only nutrition, but also the strength, or lack of, in my legs. The cramp seems to happen mainly in events and so therefore I tend to push myself a wee bit harder come event day. My leg strength has always been a bit of an issue with sore knees etc, so therefore when push comes to shove, they sometimes just don't have enough shove!! So Zippy has set me up with a gym set to help strengthen me up, lots of hill reps, and I have also booked in to see a sports nutritionist in the new year. I think all in all, this goes a wee way to combating the inevitable cramp issues that seem to be my event nemesis!
Other than that, it is training as usual. The next few months are going to be a bit of a challenge juggling family life, work, training and recovery. I seem to wander around in a bit of a haze as I think about fuelling myself for the next onslaught... BUT only 2 more months of it, then Ironman will all be over. People are already asking - 'what next?' Best you watch this space!
My Xmas day ride up Mt Ngongotaha 3x, was fun with Santa greeting Katrina and I at the top!
