Ironman New Zealand On the first weekend of March I went to NZ for the eighth time to do the NZIM. It used to be easier travel wise because it used to be in Auckland. Now its moved to the centre of the North Island about 240km south of Auckland at Lake Taupo. The easiest way to get there is to hire a car and drive. The bus comes through Lake Taupo at 1am, which isn’t an option! You can fly at expense in a tiny plane with your bike coming on the bus. For me, I always hire a car. After landing and picking up my car, I met up with people I knew who wanted me to show them the way to Lake Taupo. New Zealand is a very rural country. The freeway runs out about 50 km from Auckland and then you are on a single lane road with big trucks and farmers tractors! The 240km drive can take a minimum of four hours. With all this and the flight, I arrived in Lake Taupo at 9.30pm. I was staying with a friend who had waited up for me to arrive. I was late due to waiting for the others to collect their stuff, get something to eat etc. Its no big deal but it took a whole day to arrive from Melbourne to Lake Taupo. On my seven previous visits, it has rained in NZ. Each year I arrive, the grass is like St. Patrick’s Day. Green, green, green and each year the locals say “you’re very unlucky, it hasn’t rained for so long but we really need the rain”. From what I can gather after eight visits, is that 48 hours without rain is a drought for NZ. Not to be let down, when I arrived in Lake Taupo, it was raining, but for the first time, it wasn’t cold! Usually it is chilly till late morning and then again in the afternoon and evening it chills down again. My friend had cooked me some lentils for dinner. It was a nice thought. I just wish it had stayed a thought! Anyway, after the death row dinner, it was on with the telly. All that was on was the Americas Cup. They really love their boats over there! Then it was off to bed. Having come last, I got the room with the single bed. It was awful. It was small. It was like I was 9 and on a holiday with mum and dad. The next day was humid with odd showers. We went to register and get weighed in. 94kg, massive! I was in the senior Clydesdale category. Tried to spend the rest of the day resting but our motel owners were way too friendly and kept popping in for a chat, or a look, or a question, or to see what we bought at the shops, or to see what we were eating, or to see what was on cable ……they were too much! We got invited to a BBQ for tea at another motel, which was really nice, with some people from XTC tri club. It gave us a break from our motel owners. The next day was race briefing and bike check-in. It all went smoothly. They do run a very good race and they go out of their way to make the race user friendly. Forster could really do with some tips on how to treat athletes and supporters. Forster is really well behind in all areas of officialdoms compared to NZ. NZ really want you to do well. They really want you to be safe and obey all the rules and officials, and most of all they want you to finish and come back again. In Forster they can’t wait to threaten you with a DQ or let you know who the boss is. I guess the difference in attitude comes from Forster having people turned away each year. Anyway, after all the official stuff, we went back to our motel to just relax, but of course, our hosts would have none of this. I finally got them to leave at 9pm. I was so angry my friend said we should be polite, but enough is enough. Who when they pay for a room want the owners in their unit 9pm before race day! It rained all evening, but stayed mild. We got up at 4.45am to eat etc., then at 5.30am we walked down to the start. You get a bit exited, but now I trick myself by not thinking about what’s ahead. I talk to anybody. I joke, do anything but think of the hours ahead. We went down to the start at 6.40am and got into the water. It was cool and fresh, but not too cool. Got a good spot after warming up and waited to start. They start with three yellow lights with 3 minutes to go, then 2 minutes and finally one minute to go. Then a cannon goes off and you are away. I like to get clear water as much as I can. To me its better to swim a bit further and be clear of all the push and shove. I got into a comfortable pace and ended up with a 1.02, which is okay. I have done 55mins but it takes a lot out of me and I need to feel fresh on the bike. Coming up the hill with steps I was beside another swimmer. We helped each other unzip our wetsuits, when another swimmer came up behind and pushed us both to get by. My footy instinct made me give him a good hip and shoulder back. We all want to do our best, but to push two people over is not on. After two attempts, he realised he would have to wait to get by. I got to transition and all went smoothly out on to the bike and I was away. It was lovely weather, mild, and no wind. Good weather gives you a better frame of mind. About 1km out on the course, there is a steep hill. For some reason, people, who I know mean well think that by blowing a horn or ringing a cow bell in your face will make you feel better and make the pain go away. They are wrong. This year I took extra food to eat with me. This made all the difference to how I felt. It was tough, but I felt good. I ate food I liked and this helps your mental state. One thing you have to ignore to stay positive are several hundred people flying past after slower swims saying “keep going, you’re the first person I’ve gone past today!” Good on you…..as if it’s hard to pass me! I did the first lap in 3.30 hrs, which is good for me. The next lap took almost four hours. I was okay until a detour steep hill at 110km, which broke me. I picked up a little bit from 140km to home but I was really shot. I got off my bike to check my brakes weren’t rubbing on my tyres. I finally got back to transition. It’s a great relief to get off the bike. Another relaxed transition, then on to the run/walk. I saw people I knew in various areas and it was nice to see them. It hadn’t rained all day and the sky was clear and I thought maybe for the first time it wasn’t going to rain. Sure enough, at the 11km mark, a huge storm hit. It was so fierce the rain hurt, the roads quickly flooded so we were running in ankle deep water. It lasted 10 minutes and was gone. Going back into town, you could see the storm hadn’t hit this area. I felt good turning for the second lap, I grabbed my special needs bag and took off again. To keep positive, I talked to the crowd who were all out because of the nice evening. It was a nice feeling reaching the last turnaround – 10km back to town. I still felt good even though it was a slow time. As I got into town, people were great support. I’d had enough of running with 1km to go so I had to walk. I always find it embarrassing with all the cheers at the end, but it is nice. I crossed in just over 16 hours, which is an hour inside the cutoff. I had a quick massage, then grabbed my gear to head home. I felt good with some minor aches. I had to pack that night ready to leave in the morning for home. Up early again in the morning and off to the hot springs to ease the stiffness, then back to the car to get to the airport. I was back home at 6.30pm Sunday night. Tired and sore but happy to have finished and that it wasn’t cold, looking forward to next year for number 9! If you want a good race and are keen, I recommend NZ. If you add up what it costs to qualify for Forster etc., it works out about the same cost. You don’t have to qualify, and the people and officials are very friendly, which is something different also. Hopefully I will see some more familiar faces there next year. Daniel. |