New Zealand Bonita Bananas Ironman, Taupo 2007

I did go bananas indeed.

It's been a while. So I signed up for IM NZ to be held on March 3rd 2007. Sounded like a great idea at the time and a perfect opportunity to prove wrong those people who told me that living in Colorado and doing an early season Ironman is not very smart.

I trained pretty well over the Summer and relatively well up to the end of November. I was up to doing about 150+ miles on the bike and 20-25 miles running per week. I ran an experimental half marathon over Thanksgiving in LA - did about 15 minutes better than last time (about 1:55). Things were going great. However, the temperatures dropped after Thanksgiving and so did my enthusiasm. Running isn't a whole lot of fun in rain and sleet and all of a sudden the semi regular bike trips to work kind of sucked because it's getting cold and we're losing daylight. The snow came in on December 20th (it took me 8 hours to make it home from work on that day) and I pretty much stopped all activities and proceeded to bitch and moan for next 3 weeks. With a result of a mysterious pain in my left leg, I think it was because I just stopped cold turkey.

I kind of woke up in the middle of January and started running and swimming again but the bike time was very precious and mostly freaking cold. I went as far as buying a stationary bike trap that you can rake up your miles on while staring at TV. I hate these things. Yes, I am the only person I know of who got a flat riding my bike strapped into a trainer. I almost fell into a fireplace once while trying to get off the bike. On the swim front, I bought Terry Laughlin's Total Immersion book and DVD, proceeded with forgetting every crappy swim style I know of and started learning from scratch. I actually started seeing some results in a few weeks. Nothing stellar but encouraging.

To top it off, I started building a carbon bike sometime in the Summer. The carbon fiber composite experiments were kind of cool but still, just experiments. I realized sometime in November that I won't be able to build the bike before March, hence I probably need to buy one. I stumbled upon a deal I could not refuse and became an owner of a black Kestrel Airfoil Pro. Sweet ride but I immediately proceeded with ripping off all the Shimano stuff (came with Ultegra) and replaced the drivetrain as well as the brakes with Campy Record. Added a set of Nimble Crosswind carbon tubulars and HED aerobars and we have the complete picture. It scaled at 17 lbs with my training wheels (a bit heavier than the carbons). Not too bad, meaning that I can compensate with my weight, which surprisingly shot up to almost 190 over this crappy Winter.

So to summarize it, my training sucked and I went into the race with a new bike that I rode for about 60 miles in training. My initial goals of beating 12 hours got restated to being able to finish the race and this time running the marathon instead of just wobbling from one aid station to another. Still, a goal quite worthy of considering, I thought.

So I packed up the bike one Saturday morning, we went to the airport and we landed in Auckland on February 26th. The bike arrived without any problems, we spent the first night at our friends in Auckland and off towards Taupo we went on Tuesday. We rented a small sleeper van since I started looking for Taupo accommodations about 2 weeks before we left. To my surprise, there was nothing left, no place to sleep. It got to the point that I actually had quite a difficult time to rent a camper. Lesson learned - plan early. We took 2 days to drive to Taupo along the North Island's east coast. The scenery is just phenomenal and I got to swim in the ocean again. Yey. We slept the first night close to Whangamata beach in our sleeper van and that's when we realized that the thing is just way too small for 2 people to sleep in very comfortably. Ooops.

We found a nice campground in Taupo on Wednesday evening. Very nice campground with clean showers, swimming pool, hot tub and a bunch of crazy people assembling and tuning their race bicycles. Apparently I wasn't the only prospective ironman sleeping in a campground. However, I was probably the only one sleeping in a tiny minivan.

I went for a short swim and to take a look at the bike route on Thursday - put another 10 miles on the bike. The lake water is clear, I can see the bottom and the water is pretty warm. I also did the race sign up and briefing, picked up my number and bags. They also took my weight at 87 kg (~187 lbs?). Went to the carbo party Thursday night and met this nice Kiwi couple, Scott and Kelly. Speaking of nice people we met so far, Fiona and Soren from California and also 2 brothers, one living in Michigan, the other in Alaska (he stopped running outside when the temperature dropped below 10 degrees F and did all of his training inside. Wow.) with their sister supporting them. Cool people.

Wisdom to remember from the orientation meeting is in the words of Ken Glah. This was his 52nd Ironman (I think) and when asked what would he share with the firsttimers, he said: "Just think of this as a catered training ride". Yup, he's got a point there.

Friday was the bike check in, I asked the inspecting mechanic to put 150 psi in my tires since I am totally clueless and have never been on tubulars before. He uttered something about teeth chatter but obviously it didn't sink in. As I am hanging the bike at my slot #900, I noticed a red Kestrel in slot 901. With Nimble wheels. Who would have thought. Probably the only two Kestrels in the whole race, next to each other. I went to bed early but was up quite a bit during the night. Partly because I was watering myself which prompted frequent bathroom breaks and partly because the van is just too small. Live and learn.

Saturday morning. Got up at about 4:45, had a hefty breakfast of cereal, milk, banana, Manuka honey and probably some other stuff. It took us about 10 minutes to make it to the T1 area, I got my number painted on me, put on the wetsuit, Nancy greased my exposed arms and shoulders and before we knew it, it was 6:30 and off to the beach we go. This time (unlike Brazil), the start was in the water, so at about 6:45, there are 1150 lemmings flooding their wetsuits, peeing in the water and otherwise keeping busy before the gun goes off. Did I mention I brought with me an annoying sinus headache? Wasn't too bad, just a bit annoying and the lack of sleep didn't help either.

Ignoring all that I have learned in Brazil and from my friends, I wisely positioned myself in direct line of fire. Right up front. The pros had about 10 meters head start and I am right behind them, that is until the gun went off. For the next hour I got fondled, touched at various places, kicked, grabbed, abused - you name it. Lesson learned - don't do this, get away from people, it's not worth it. Actually, at one time I realized that there is nobody around me and I can swim freely. That is until the dude in his kayak showed up and said: "This way, mate, this way" and pointed me back to the course which at this point looked and felt like a packed sardine can. Well, at least this time (unlike Brazil), I had prescription lenses and could actually see where I am going. All I have to do is to pay attention.

Other than the constant abuse, the swim was pretty enjoyable, I watched the bottom of the lake (gave my mind something to do), even saw some frightened fish. I thought of Terry's book and DVD and consciously practiced the Total Immersion way. It did make it easier on me. The sun was up by the time I got out of water. I made it in about the same time as Brazil (1:16), however, I wasn't exhausted, I felt pretty good this time. The bad part was that there is about 400 meters run to get to the swim-bike transition and running in my wetsuit is not my favorite activity. Especially when I had to run up these gravel stairs. Got the wetsuit peeled off of me in the T1 men's tent, drank a little, ate a little (orange, banana), rested a little and then off to the bike.

The bike ride started really well. It was cool, end of Summer morning, very enjoyable. Of course I had my squeaky whale mounted on my super aerodynamic handlebars and I was determined to have fun. One thing I was aware of from my 60 miles training ride is that this indeed is a triathlon specific bike and I use a few different (new to me) muscles to ride it. Which is good from the perspective of preserving my running muscles and bad from the perspective of whether I'll be able to finish the bike in order to use the unused running muscles. Well, we'll play it by ear. My food strategy was similar but a bit different from Brazil. I decided not to take any water bottles with me and pick one up at the first aid station instead. I had 4 Cliff bars with me, one for each 28 mile leg. And I was determined not to take any gels until I feel that I have to start the sugar kick. I also took a chance on the equipment. I took 2 CO2 cartridges and a bottle of Vittoria 'fix-a-flat'. I didn't take a spare with me this time. I figured if I get a flat, I'll try to seal it with the Vittoria goo, if I get a second one, I'll wait for the mechanic and have them glue on a new tubular with a tape.

I realized that there are quite a few better swimmers but worse bikers than I am. I was catching up with quite a few people who apparently got out of water way before me. One of them was a red Kestrel #901 - his name is Brian, he lives in Austin and Nimble wheels are made right behind his house. I also quickly realized what the mechanic meant by the teeth chatter comment. Road to Reporoa is a bit rough, just like any other road in NZ. The standard Kiwi method of sealing the road is to splatter asphalt all over, then dump bunch of gravel on it and let the cars beat it in. You know the kind. Sharp, bumpy gravel glued to other sharp, bumpy gravel. Occasionally we got something like 100 yards of smooth asphalt so I'd slow down so I can enjoy it longer.

My bike sounds like a choo choo train. The 3 spoke carbon wheels just produce this whooshing sound, people certainly knew that I was coming behind them. Not that it would make any difference. Occasionally there was someone who was a crappier swimmer than I am (hard to believe) and better biker. Not too many. The first leg to Reporoa was relatively uneventful, I did good time, ate my prescribed Clif bar and drank Poweraid (sponsoring drink of choice in this race). I didn't drink much water, about 1 bottle of water per 3 bottles of Poweraid. Occasional banana further improved my attitude and things went well. The same can be said about the second leg, going back to Taupo. Well, almost.

I realized on the way back that this is a bit more difficult course from the one in Brazil. Florianopolis had shorter, steeper hills, perhaps the same or similar vertical elevation (or close), but they were done and over with relatively quickly. Taupo has long inclines that become sort of annoying after a while. Not horribly steep but it just drags forever and it started sucking the soul out of me. Well, finished the second 28 miles and off to second loop I went.

Both loops start and end with a hill climb, so starting the second loop, I see a guy pushing his bike up the hill. "Are you OK?", I ask as I go by. "I am fine", replies the guy. "Can I help you?", I ask. "No mate, you can't help me anymore", he replies while showing me his right hand holding a lit cigarette in it. Kiwi or Aussie, obviously :). So the 3rd leg (first half of second loop) was again, relatively uneventful, however, I did notice that I am slowing down a bit. It wasn't a whole lot because I wouldn't have any juice left, it was more of a question of whether I can keep some for later. Turned around in Reporoa and sank my teeth into the last leg. Come on, it's only one more 'bike to work' distance, I thought.

I would get in and out of aerobars, due to my intensive non-training I couldn't stay in them for a very long time. Overall, I guess I was in them for at least a third of the time. I learned that it is very beneficial to have aerobars, especially going uphill into the wind. It doesn't feel like I have to fight the wind too much, I do like it. The feel of this bike is also very different from my good old Specialized aluminium. The Kestrel, as it scales at about 16 lbs, feels like I am sitting on top of a razor blade. Quite unstable, I feel that there isn't a whole lot between me and the road. Which of course means that the thing is phenomenally responsive. I feel that the bike is just jumping ahead and pulling me along.

Then the infamous mile 90 came and that's when I realized that I am really not horribly comfortable on this new seat and I would like to get off, please. Oh well, clench your teeth, tighten your butt and get on with the program. Finally I came back to town, passed the T1 place and started wondering whether I somehow managed to start on the 3rd lap, which I shouldn't be. Lesson to be noted here - learn the course before you get on it. It turned out that T2 was about 1/2 mile down the road. I kind of knew it but at the race briefing it just sounded too complicated. Oh well, finally made it to T2, got off of the devil's instrument (the bike), took a final inventory of the hurt body parts and realized that it's not too bad.

My right knee and left shin were feeling the pressure but overall I was in better shape than at T2 in Brazil. No muscles seemed to have a need for locking up, I felt mentally strong - likely due to my constant honking of my squeaky whale. I took a little break, ate a little, drank a little, changed into my running shorts, got sprayed with suntan lotion, put on my headgear, did my first bathroom break and off to conquer the running course. I also preventively taped my toes at the places I develop blisters before putting on my shoes. Another thing I did a bit different from Brazil - I ran in my beloved, well worn in training shoes instead of a fairly new pair. And I decided to start the run with a salt tablet and preventively take one every 10 k. Unlike in Brazil where I thought I may need them on the bike, didn't use them and then left them on the bike. Oops.

The course started with us running over this steep ramp over the road they built for us so we don't have to cross the road. Nice. I started at my desired tempo of about 9 minutes per mile and everything was just peachy for about 1/2 mile, when I realized that I need to find a porta-potty real fast or really bad things are about to happen. Hmmm, this was different from Brazil. I found a 'loo', got myself a little lighter and off into the sunset. Things were looking good for the first few miles, I actually ran at my prescribed speed, my heart rate right where I wanted it (about 150 - 155). Then came the hills.

As I mentioned before, I should know the course before I get on it. The run course follows the lake shore, it is very enjoyable scenery, going through town and neighborhoods, it's really nice. However, it's a constant up'n down. Again, overall elevation probably isn't any worse than Brazil, however, Brazil had one bad ass hill, once it was over with, the rest of the course was pretty flat. It didn't take long for me to realize that if I do want to finish this, I'll have to walk the hills. So as much as I wanted to run the course, the reality dictated otherwise. Oh well, at least there is a nice scenery to look at and people to poke fun at (and people poking fun at me) along the road.

I finished the first 10 k while in good spirit and physical shape. The only major pain was the bridge of my left foot as I got off the bike. It was a bit stiff for the first few miles but then it kind of went away, I don't remember when. Good things were happening, I was eating bananas and oranges, alternating between water, poweraid and coke, occasionally had a handful of potato chips or a chocolate chip cookie. The people at aid stations were fantastic as well as the bystanders in the neighborhoods. Some houses had a water hose showers we could run under to cool down a bit, once in a while there is a little kid with a bucket "You wanna spray?" and I tell them "Hit me kid" and they just dump the whole bucket on me. In general we're having a good old time.

I met Scott - he was on his way to the last 10 k of it (I paid attention to the wristbands and become envious of people earning some - it meant they were like half way through it). My second 10 k was a bit slower that the first one but still felt reasonably well about it. I stopped once to add a little more tape to one of my toes and stopped at first aid station to have my nipples taped. And I remembered to take the salt tablet every 10 k.

At 20 k into the run I didn't yet take a single gel and was pretty proud of myself. However, I was about to pull the big guns. I had a couple Enervitene's in my special needs bag and also a couple of sticks of Slim Jim. Which I was looking forward to immensely. So I turned the corner, earned another wristband and started the second half of the run. And there it was - the bumble bee.

The poor thing is stuck in the middle of the road and surely would have been stepped on if it wasn't for me, the bumble bee knight in stinky armour. I took off my head gear and in the Kiwi spirit (Kiwis love all creatures, perhaps with the exception of mosquito and possum) I saved the bumble bee from the road. And he promptly repaid me with zapping me in my middle finger. Great. I didn't think bumble bees have stingers and apparently they don't since my finger didn't swell up or anything like that. I think he just bit me. I stopped at the medics a couple of miles later, just in case. No problem, the bumble bee was saved and I didn't suffer. Much.

So I got the special needs bag, I got my Enervitene, sucked down one of them and totally forgot about those Slim Jims. Crap. Off to conquer the next 10 k, I got progressively slower. Mentally it was still going pretty well, except once in a while I just had to ask the rhetorical question of "How many freaking hills do they have in this country?". The simple answer is "a lot". I finally managed to make it to the 31 k turnaround, I have earned both of my wristbands and I realized that everyone I meet from now on is really behind me and better yet, every step I make, I don't have to come back here. Life is good.

By now our new friend Soren passed me by. This was very cool since this was Soren's first IM. I saw his girlfriend Fiona along the course at various places cheering me up (when she wasn't cheering him, of course). Inevitably, I had to ask a question of how is it that I am running yet she is always ahead of me? There was something to ponder upon for a while. I didn't figure it out myself so I asked her next time - it turned out she and apparently others used a vehicle to get ahead of us. Oh, OK, that makes sense now. Yup, the mind is deteriorating, the longer you're out, the longer it takes to solve simple problems.

I sucked down the second Enervitene and in about a mile I realized I still have some juice left in the tank. I met a Canadian guy when I got zapped by the bumble bee and we were passing and encouraging each other from there on. He started having stomach problems so I caught up with him at the turn around and we walked and talked for a while. Then I saw Soren half way up the hill ahead of me and decided to catch up with him. I started running again, caught up with him, said hi to Fiona at the top of the hill and all of a sudden I felt like Forest Gump. Run, Forest, run. Well, it actually felt kind of good, I was making long strides, running from my hips and at times actually broke an 8 minute mile.

I thought that as long as I don't start locking up or something, I might as well run and get it over with that much sooner. On the mental side I kept myself up by thanking everyone I met for supporting us. I knew this was the last time I went by the aid stations, so I yelled "Thank you guys for everything, you're awesome" and similar compliments. And I really meant it, indeed, these people were awesome. They put so much effort into making everyone feel good, helping everyone finish this grueling nonsense.

I managed to run until about 2 k before the finish line when a pesky muscle under my right knee decided it's enough and started tightening up. So I backed off a little and a minute later picked it up again. Then backed off and picked it up for the finish line. As I was running towards the finish, I started looking for Nancy and there she was, trying to take a picture (that's when her batteries finally gave up). So I dragged her out to the course and we have a nice picture of the two of us, her in her flip-flops, the camera flying on the side of her, me with my everlasting "I-can't-remember-my-name-anymore' smile, and the clock above us proclaiming the total finish time of 13:13:13

It was a lovely day.

I got scaled at 84.5 kg after the race, got a massage after the finish and ate a bit of some beef stew with beans. I felt pretty good physically as well as mentally. I almost fell asleep on the massage table. However, I was really tired and didn't want to wait at the finish line till the end this time. I think it was the lack of sleep. I was yawning all the way through the run (and people were making fun of me for that). So we went back to the camp, I took a nice hot shower, drank some more water and went to bed. I woke up several times for a bathroom break, drank some more and at one time pulled a blanket and laid down on the cool ground next to the sleeper. It felt really good on my sore legs.

We got up in the morning, had a good breakfast, I was able to walk pretty well this time (unlike Brazil), picked up the bike and my leftover special needs bag with my Slim Jims in it (they returned these bags to us, very nice). We left town in the afternoon and went South along the lake. We were able to find a nice motel for the night and went for a hike along a river. We spent a couple of hours walking (up and down, of course), probably did about 3 - 4 miles walk and I felt pretty good about it. The legs hurt going downhill, but not too bad. We grilled 8 small steaks with some vegetables that evening, Nancy ate 1 and 1/2 of them and I ate the rest. Yummy.

We spent the next week riding along the east coast, hiking almost every day, most days I also did some swimming. Overall I started recovering really fast and really well. I think doing something every day has helped a lot with the recovery.

Worthy notes of what I learned or would do differently next time
1) Learn the courses, drive, bike or run through the terrain at least once
2) Taping my toes and using well worn in shoes were two awesome ideas - I found only one tiny little blister next day
3) I can live through this without gels. Yey, more fat for me :)
4) 150 psi is way too much pressure in tubulars. Probably even for smooth road
5) I actually ate only 3 Clif bars on the bike. Seemed sufficient.
6) Logging more than 60 miles on a new bike seems to be a better way to go
7) Definitely do more of the Total Immersion swimming. Same time, less effort.
8) Do some hill training. Both on the bike and running. Long and steady hills is what I am missing. I can do short and steep (well, on the bike, anyway).
9) Getting some sleep before the race would have been beneficial. Book a motel/hotel next time.
10) Salt tablets didn't seem to hurt me. I really don't know if they helped, either.
11) Travel with one wheel set next time. Having both training and race wheel sets was a waste of luggage space and weight
12) I lost 2.5 kg - should have been drinking a bit more
13) Winter training sucks. Those people were right. A 20 week warm weather training schedule instead of my random runs in snow and ice would likely be more beneficial.

My splits according to my Timex - not exactly accurate time data since I didn't always push the button at the same time as crossing the timing mat. Oh well, good enough. I really wanted the heart rates anyway.

Swim: 1:18:20
T1: 7:01 - I know this one is way off for some reason
Bike:
1:25:01, 19.7 mph, 28.04 miles, HR 151
1:37:56, 17.6 mph, 28.82 miles, HR 153
1:29:02, 18.8 mph, 28.03 miles, HR 148
1:37:56, 16.4 mph, 26.92 miles, HR 152
T2: 10:10 - again, this is quite off
Run:
1:31:09, 11'48" mile, 7.722 miles, HR 150
1:14:13, 12'33" mile, 5.908 miles, HR 144
1:23:15, 13'01" mile, 6.393 miles, HR 139
1:12:31, 11'21" mile, 6.383 miles, HR 148

Bike - the course is obviously downhill out of town and uphill coming back in (well, it starts with a hill but Reporoa is about 300 feet below Taupo). Interestingly enough, the second and fourth legs are exactly the same time but obviously I am slacking off as time goes by. Being pretty conservative with HR, I know I should be able to go steady at about 160 on the bike.

Run - started out reasonably well and then slacked off to 139 beats average - I know the heart can handle up to 165, however, the legs obviously didn't. I am pretty happy that the last leg was yet again the fastest, this tells me that I managed my resources well, there was still stuff in the tank. Perhaps next time I can tap into it a bit earlier.

Link to results page with graphs

ASI photo has pictures online so I didn't bother putting any over here. Just lookup IM New Zealand 2007 and search by last name (Mracek) or for bib number 900. ASI Photo

So what's next?
I don't think I'll do any more IM races this year. I will train and aim to get some good results next year. I may do our local 5430 half IM, don't know yet.

Races to consider next year:
Lanzarotte - about as difficult as it gets
Austria - flat run
Australia or West Australia - I always wanted to go there
South Africa - hmmm, perhaps a new continent, should I go for #3 in Southern hemisphere?

We'll see. I will definitely prepare a bit better and have a few more miles on the bike. I feel I am stronger than I was in Brazil, however, I still don't have the experience to judge whether I can open up or not.

And I will start logging my training again. I didn't do it.

It was a grand day out, just lovely :)