Ironman New Zealand 2004
6 March 2004 – Taupo, New Zealand

Prelude

Even though I’ve done three Ironmans previously, each race is different. I don’t think you ever really “nail it”. You learn from each one and take those lessons to the next. You get better, you get smarter, but still, something new, something different arises every time. Perhaps Ironman is like life – an endless journey in learning and growing.

I had a full year since my last Ironman to train for this one, and honestly, the last six weeks leading into it were difficult. I felt more and more like I needed a break – a mental break. A full year is a long time to stay focused. However, I had countless breakthroughs in my training and the results showed in my “C” races throughout the season.

I returned to Christchurch to train in October of 2003 and immediately we went for swimming overload. I was swimming 90 minutes five times per week. I loved my swim coach, Roly. He writes a fantastic program, and before long, I was coming out of every swim session with new PBs. In addition to the swimming, I started a regular program of “Big Day” training and some long trail runs. If you’ve read some of my journals, you’ll see what kind of trail running I was doing. It was insane, but a total blast. We tried a 30-hour training week. I made it through the week, but it was decided to roll 25-hour weeks as consistently as possible from them on as I got a touch moody towards the end of that big week. That was much more tolerable for me and we managed to keep it rolling for the most part. Funny how perspectives change over time – I started feeling like I was being lazy when “only” doing a 20-hour training week.

The “Big Day” training sessions were key in developing my endurance and fitness, and ran between seven- to nine-hour sessions. My biggest day started with a 5K swim, a six-hour ride, and a 45-minute run.

I also did two road trip training weekends. The first was a four-day cycle tour called the Five Passes. I rode about 350 miles over the course of the weekend. The next was a three-day trip book-ended by 150K rides. Fatigue in the right way, as my coach would say.

Race week was interesting. It seemed that the race was so far away and then suddenly here it was. My mind and my body weren’t aligned. My body was ready to go but my mind was tired. Arriving in Taupo and being surrounded by my good friends and the IM atmosphere got me on track almost immediately.

Race Day

I had rented a house with a few of my friends Jen, Ally, and Rick. We were all up by 4am and going about our race day rituals. I had scrambled eggs with mushrooms, an orange, and a bagel with peanut butter and jam for breakfast. I thought I’d eat a second bagel, but couldn’t do it. I was full.

We were at the race site by 5:30, got numbered, turned in our special needs bags, and got our bikes ready in the cold dark fog of the early morning. Everything was wet with dew, but at least it wasn’t frost. One of the locals got me a little concerned saying there would be morning frost and the AM temps would be about 4C. It was warmer thankfully, but not by much.

I lost Ally and Rick in transition, so Jen and I walked down to the swim start together. I was feeling a little irritated with all the people around me. That’s a first. I just wanted to get to the water’s edge, suit up and find a quiet corner for a little while. Didn’t happen and I got over it pretty quick. I didn’t seem to have any race day nerves going on. I was actually getting a little nervous that I felt so calm and relaxed about the whole thing.

The Swim

Cripes, the lake was cold! I was grateful that I had purchased a neoprene cap the day before. There was a layer of fog over the lake that gave it an eerie feeling. On the drive to the lake in the morning, the moon was setting just over the hills on the west side of the lake. Its glow cast over the lake and danced on the fog giving it a surreal feeling – like something out of a King Kong movie. I love stuff like that.

Before the start, the Maori performed a ritual created specifically for the Ironman from their whale boat. Jen and I waded out looking for our start spot. I was following her and it looked to me like she was heading near the front of the pack. I thought that if I started with her up there, I’d get trampled by the faster folks behind me. Just as I asked her where we were going, the canon went off. Oh well then, here we go.

I’ve since decided that closer the front is the place for me to start from now on. I got a huge pull from the folks in front of me, and even though it was a boxing match the whole way, I held my own and had endless draft opportunities. My goal was to do the whole swim at steady pace. “Generate some heat” was my instruction. From all the swimming I had done in the months leading up to the race, I knew I could swim aerobically and come out of the water fairly fresh, I also knew I’d come out of the water on this day, sooner than any day at the pool.

There had been cyclones passing outside the north island in the week leading to the race, and rains had been heavy. The lake spilled out into a river that was regulated by a flood gate. Generally the council of Taupo closed the flood gates for the race, eliminating the current and letting us exit from the river – across from the transition area. With the lake being so full this year, they weren’t able to close the gates and our swim course/exit was changed. Now we were to swim an extra 300m out/back, exit where we started, and run an extra 400m to the transition area. I didn’t notice any current heading out in the swim, but on the way back I felt like I was flying.

The last few hundred meters always feel so long to the swim exit. I was feeling good out there. I had worked in the swim but really not overly hard. I was comfortable for the most part, which tells me I can swim a little harder next time. I exited the water and looked at the clock – 1:15! Wooohooo!!! That’s 10 minutes faster than last year and seven minutes off the distance. Like last year though, I didn’t get excited. I still had a long bike ride and a marathon to tackle before the day was over.

That run to T1 was pretty long, and my T1 time was my longest yet. No regrets, however. I took my time to put on a cycling jersey, arm warmers, a bandana, toe covers and full-fingered gloves. Considering it took three hours for my toes to thaw out, I was grateful I took the extra time.

The Bike

Something I discovered about swimming faster is that there are so many more cyclists on the road to deal with. I’ll take that though. It’s a good thing to deal with. I passed streams of cyclists heading out of town, but had a hard time keeping my HR down. It took about 15K until it finally settled to my AeT and that’s where it sat for the whole first loop of the bike course.

Last year we were quite lucky with almost no winds at all on the bike course. This year not so much. The winds started early and we had a headwind all the way back to town. It wasn’t so bad on the first loop. I was feeling okay on the bike, but I knew without a doubt, today was going to be all mental. But then, all IMs are, aren’t they.

I had seen Bjorn (Mister Anderssen) out there ripping the bike course to shreds as I was heading back to town. He had a massive lead on the rest of the bike course and I set a new goal – get to T2 before Bjorn laps me. I did it. :-) I skipped special needs this time around and headed out into now solid Kiwi winds. The downhill sections of the out-n-back were awesome. I was barreling along at 42 mph giggling. Might as well enjoy it while I can, the return wouldn’t be quite as much fun.

About six hours into the race, I stopped eating. I had a different nutrition plan this time – no water on the bike, just all sports drink. Last time I overhydrated and ended up having to stop at every single porta potty on the run. It was going good, but then, I needed something other than sport drink and bars. I decided then that I will not pass up special needs again. I usually put digestive cookies in there and they were always nice on my stomach. They’ll be in my special needs at IMC for sure.

I rode along telling myself over and over to eat. I couldn’t bear the thought of another sport bar, so I grabbed a banana at an aid station. That settled my stomach nicely – not that it was upset, it was just starting to get irritated. I still couldn’t bear a bar, so at the next aid station I grabbed another banana.

Coming through the Broadlands Forest on my final return to town, the winds were a factor. I had gone from 15 mph on the first lap to 9mph on the second. My HR was dropping and my legs were feeling heavy and worked. Yikes. That’s not how I want to feel before a marathon. I settled into my aerobars and found a happy place. I was riding along in my own space – mentally and physically. The closest cyclist to me – or so I thought – was about 40 meters off the front. Just then, a draftbuster came up beside me, flipped a U and yelled, “spread it out, you’re drafting!” Say what? There was nobody in front of me. I looked over my shoulder and there were five guys sitting on my wheel! A few minutes later I looked over my shoulder and they were still there. I said, “You better pass me or get off my wheel, dude.” That worked.

I managed to shove one more sport bar down before I finished the bike, but after adding it up later, I had taken in less than 1500 calories over seven hours on the bike. Hmm. Not quite enough fuel and the reason why my HR was dropping and my legs working harder. I came off the bike in 7:13 – a 17-minute PB on the distance. T2 was faster than last year too – a little. ;-)

The Run

I grabbed a V8 juice in T2 and hit the run chugging it down. It had warmed up quite a bit since morning chill and now the skies were spotless blue. The run is two out and backs, and on the first out-n-back I was thinking this was such a long way to go. I was running five under my AeT – exactly where I wanted to be. I didn’t feel like I was moving all that fast, but I was moving. I waited 40 minutes before I had my first GU, but had grabbed a cup of PRO4 at every aid station. I was continuing on here with the no water theme, just sports drink.

Somewhere on the run, I don’t quite remember where, I couldn’t remember when I’d last taken a GU. I started feeling really tired and figured it had been too long. Since I couldn’t keep track of elapsed time, I decided that every second aid station I’d have one. That worked.

Coming back into town at the end of my first loop, I had a bit of a mental breakdown. I was hot but I was getting chills. My HR skyrocketed and I couldn’t seem to get it down. I was shuffling and it was 25 over my AeT. I started to feel generally overall bad and started to get a little choked up. All I had to do was get to special needs for my V8 juice. I got there, got it, and started walking while I drank it. Why do mental breakdowns always happen back in town where all the spectators are? Hard to hide when there’s rows of people two feet from you on either side. I walked all the way around the back side of the Great Lake Center – at least 10 minutes or so – to the next aid station. I had to tell myself over and over, “Run Wy. Pick up your feet and RUN.”

I shuffled my way back out of town and stopped thinking. I found a nice neutral zone, an automatic pilot. Just run to the aid station, walk thru with a drink, run to the next one. At the final turnaround it was still hard to keep going. I really just wanted to walk. I started thinking, “screw it, I’m going to walk it in...” Nope, there’ll be none of that. On the last 10K I hit a zone where as long as I was running, it was good. When I slowed to walk thru an aid station it hurt to stop, then of course, it hurt to start again. I had to talk to myself a lot... “run Wy, run... Just friggin run...” Each time I’d start off at a shuffle and say, “S’okay, build into to it...” and each time I would. I couldn’t handle GU and PRO4 anymore either. I had taken nine GUs on the run with me, and ended up tossing four or five of them at an aid station. I went through the last four aid stations taking only water and a handful of potato chips.

I tried to avoid the glow stick this time. That was a last minute goal – no glow sticks. With 7K to go, I was handed a glow stick. Bugger! The sun was setting in the west and the moon was rising in the east. What a fantastic evening for a run.

With about 5K to go, a couple people in a car pulled up and yelled, “Go Wy!” It was Gordo’s girlfriend, Shanelle, and her Mom. I thought that was pretty cool of them. They bunny-hopped me all the way to the finish chute and snapped off a few photos heading in. They gave me such a much-needed lift out there. Thank you Shan and Kay! :-)

I ran along nice and easy down the chute. There was a girl just ahead of me and I knew if I ran my pace, we’d end up crossing together. I didn’t want to sprint past her either – I mean, at 14 hours we weren’t setting any records. ;-) So, I cruised in slapping hands with all the spectators along the chute. Jen was there and as I slapped hands with her, she yelled, “I love you, Wy!” It’s a great feeling to know I have so many wonderful friends. I’m one lucky girl to get to do the things I love and to have so many amazing people in my life.

So, I crossed the finish line in 14 hours and 25 minutes. A 20-minute PB on the marathon and a new PB on the distance by 43 minutes. It was hard-earned this year. This race was mentally tough for me. Not the toughest, but definitely far tougher than last year. Looking back it’s a good thing that I’ve been reminded Ironmans are hard. I came away from last year’s race feeling like it had been almost “easy”. It wasn’t nearly as mentally hard as it was this day. I had been afraid of that for a long time coming into this race. The experiences of this race will only strengthen my resolve for my next race. Now that I’ve been reminded that these things are hard, I’ll be better prepared mentally for Ironman Canada this August.

Now I sit here, five days post-race, looking at my bike and wanting to go for a ride so badly. I’m feeling fantastic and my energy seems to be quite up there. I feel like I don’t want to stop, I have to keep it rolling right into Ironman Canada. However, I have needed a break for some time now and know, the best thing I can do is chill out for a couple weeks. We are a mad bunch, aren’t we? Gotta love it though! And man-oh-man, I do love this stuff!