One golden day

The Prologue.
The years of training, the trials of preparation, the tests of courage, the indefinable lows and the indescribable highs, and it all comes down to this moment...

The story, as you all know, starts long before this day. When Susie first decided to get a little fitter, her goal was but a simple one - to be able to strap herself into a snow board and stand up without assistance. Goal achieved, the sainted Matt casually inquired "have you ever thought about doing a triathlon?", and thus the seed was sown. Skip forward a few years, and I'll quote the lady herself. "Four years ago when I was starting to get sick and could only stand for 15 mins at a time, a friend asked what I wanted to do. I said one day I want to do a half ironman. Back then I didn't realise it would take so long to get better... ".

The Location.
The Gold Coast Half IronMan Triathlon is run in a little place called Calypso Bay - a district that can barely scrape together more than one millionaire per 10 sq metres. The squalor and the rundown facilities were appalling, but when there's a job to be done, one must rise above ones circumstances.

Calypso Bay

The Start.
It seems that many of Australia's triathletes traveled to Queensland for this race, with over a 1000 competitors in the distance event alone. Not only was there a large contingent from Susie's tri club to lend verbal support, but good friends Cheri (aka 'kb') and Rob were there too.

If it's good enough for Michael Phelps...
Susie has a quiet drag on a (ventolin) bong.

The time immediately prior to a big race can be very lonely, but "The swim start was delayed by 30mins and kb and I sat on a jetty chatting while we waited and got rid of all our nerves".

Mermaids

Seals

The Swim
"I felt good in the swim and when I saw 36:xx on my watch as I came up the ramp I was stunned as at best I'd hoped for 45".


I have to say that I almost missed Susie's exit from the water, as I wasn't expecting her to be out that quickly either. As you can see from the number of bikes in this next photo of transition #1, there were a lot of people still in the water.

The Bike
The bike leg is 90km, and that provided plenty of time for the sun to warm up and the winds to rise. "I felt strong the whole way on the bike but the final lap was a bit harder as we were now into the 40+k winds. I was hoping for a 3:30 bike leg, so 3:35 in the wind was great." If you squint hard enough at Susie's bike (the red one to her right in the photo above), you'll see a white water bottle mounted on the handlebars as well as two down on the frame. The white one has a straw poking up out of it so that the rider can drink from it without moving from the aero position. Unfortunately, at the first drink station when Susie went to refill it on the move, the strap holding it in place gave way - goodbye main drink bottle! Luckily, the other two were sufficient to get her through to the next station and thence the end.

The Run
Transition #2 went smoothly, even if the exit didn't. "Another lap around on the transition and it was out to the run. In typical style I tripped over a gutter and face planted but I think the spectators were more worried than I was. I just got up and kept going." Another close squint at the photo below will reveal Susie's red badge of courage streaming down her left leg. What you can't see are her hands and left elbow.

Run Leg - did I mention the 1000 competitors?

It isn't really apparent in the photo, but this part of the run leg is 3 x 3km alongside one of the grassed (dirt) parking areas. Thus, as competitors from earlier events were leaving, their cars threw up clouds of dust which the wind turned into our very own private dust storm. Given Susie's asthma issues, I have to say that this was the point of maximum concern for me. Time-wise, there was no issue with finishing, just as long as she didn't end up in the back of an ambulance with breathing difficulties. It appears that Susie didn't share my concerns. "I managed to slot into a steady pace straightway and kept it going for the whole run leg doing the 2.30 exactly as I'd hoped."

The Finish
"I was so happy and excited to cross the line in 6.44.08 when 6.45 was my 'only on a good day could I do this' goal".

And so we return to the prologue. Any Zen master worth his salt will tell you that it is the journey that matters, not the destination. Any good photographer worth his salt will tell you that there are moments that encapsulates all those years of effort, those moments when all the pain is justified. This was one of those...

The end
is just the beginning

An accidental marathon

How can a marathon be accidental? I think I've found a way. After my disaster in last year's Canberra Marathon, I promised myself (and anyone who'd listen) that never again would I try the Six Foot / Canberra double. It's just too hard on an old bloke's body. Consequently, my goals for this year were set in stone:

1. Finish 6ft in good condition (a pb would be a bonus), and
   
2. Go sub 3:30 in the Melbourne Marathon in October.

Any other races (halves, 10k, the odd triathlon, whatever) were all just training for those two. History has recorded that the first was ticked off in fine, albeit slightly painful, style.

In the month since 6ft, I've taken it relatively easy, running about 50k per week, pretty much all in 10k blocks. Prior to last Saturday the furthest I'd run was 11k, but on Saturday I decided to see how I'd go over 30... As it was, the call of the toilet truncated the run to 27k, but it was a very comfortable 27 over a hilly course at a steady 5:15 pace, and it got me thinking. 5:15 pace equates to a 3:45 marathon. My PB is 3:43. Surely I could keep that pace going, and possibly even go a little faster. We were going to Canberra anyway to watch Caro, Julia, Jacqui & Barb (from Run Club) all run their first marathons, so... Maybe. Surely. Should I? Shouldn't I? What about? Ummm...

There were a few things to sort out, so it wasn't until Tuesday that we made a final decision. The best part of leaving everything to the end like that is that there's no time for nerves, and there's no time to build up expectations. I'm not sure that I've ever done a race where I was less concerned about the outcome. I decided (after about 2 second's thought) that I'd start on a 5:00 pace (3:30 finish) and see what happened. If I ran well then great, and if I blew up then I could walk home. No hassles either way :-)

Julia, Jacqui, yours truly and Caro before the start (Barb was nowhere to be found :-) )

The first 10k was uneventful. I found an old mate of Tiger Angel's who I only ever see at races and we chatted our way up and around Parliament House - he describing his night in hospital after last month's Iron Man and me describing Tiger Angel's toe operation - but after coming past the wonderful CR cheer squad at cowbell corner and heading out over the lake, I started to detect an increasing need for some sit-down conveniences. A short respite there cost me 90 seconds, but no worries; 90 seconds can be recovered over 30k just by upping the tempo by 3 sec/k. No problem. In fact, I recovered a little more quickly than that, and was back on schedule by the second time around cowbell corner (26k). Still feeling fresh and untroubled, I ran on happily until, heading out over the lake, I started to detect an increasing need for...

Yep, same conveniences, 2nd lap :-( At least this time it only cost 60 sec, but this time I had to make up 60 sec in the 12 remaining k. Hmmm. That's 5 sec/k this time. Not to worry. I can do that. In fact, at this point I suddenly realised that I could do a whole lot better than 5 sec/k. I was feeling fresh and I only had 12k to go, so why not throw caution to the wind and put some effort in.

Up to Black Mtn and back down. Still good. Across the lake. Still good. Across the front of Old Parliament house. To my surprise, still good. And all the while watching the splits crumble. 30 sec ahead. 50 sec. 1:30 ahead. And still feeling good. Amazing.

If I felt good then, it was nothing compared to the lift I got from Tiger Angel and the rest of the CR cheer squad as I came through Cowbell Corner for the last time. A final sprint down the last k and I crossed the line in 3:28:17 (3:27:49 net), well under my year's goal of 3:30, and 15 minutes under my previous PB. Best of all, I felt in good enough nick to walk back down to Cowbell Corner to do my share of cheering the girls on, and then wander down the course and run with Caro for her last 2k. What an awesome way to finish an awesome day!

Caro and me at Cowbell Corner

So, what's the wrap up? Firstly, it was such a privilege to be with the girls and watch their nerves and doubts of the morning turn into the elation (and a certain quantum of pain!) of the afternoon. It's an achievement that will last a lifetime, and only you know just what you put in to achieve it. Regardless of the congratulations that others may offer, you know in your own souls just what it is that you have done.

Hail the conquering heroes! :-)

As for my self, I ran the last 10k in 45 minutes. That is such a confidence booster for Melbourne. With focussed and careful training and good conditions, who knows what may be possible? Whatever the weather, I want to know that when I run into the MCG, I will have done the absolute best that I possibly could. That is my goal now.

Gnome

This post was going to be...

...a report on tiger angel's wonderful Olympic Tri at Geelong, but alas it is a week early... :-(

Tiger angel dislocated her little toe on Thursday night, and due to complications from foot surgery she had 30+ years ago, she had to have an emergency operation and she now has a wire sticking out the end of her toe. Consequently, no driving for 6 weeks, no run/ride/swim for a similar length of time, and obviously no Geelong. Still, it won't affect her major goal races later in the year, so it's just a setback, not a closed door.

Ah well...

Gnome

Oops. Small correction.

Sadly (though I'd love it to be true), I wasn't entirely clear in my last post. When I said "...to be presented by my beautiful tiger angel with my medal and a 4:24 pb...", I meant a time 4 minutes and 24 seconds faster than last year, not (sob!) a time of 4 hours and 24 minutes. :-(

Real time was 4:54:06 - which I am totally happy with, no doubt about that! :-)



I still wouldn't mind doing 4:24 though...

6ft 2009

Hi Ho! This is just a verbatim repeat of the report on CoolRunning for my records (oh, plus a few photos).

_____________________________________________________

To be or not to be, that is the question;

Four months of good training, and it all came down to a gut bug. Should I start? Can I finish? What's the impact of an 'interrupted' carbo load? Dunno.

By Saturday morning I was feeling OK, and tiger angel's top-notch home-brew creamed rice went down a treat at 4:30am. Donned the skirt, applied liberal quantities of body glide and headed down to the buses.

Brick & yours truly hamming it up for the cameras.

The run/walk down Nellies was treacherous. I heard at least six people fall over, so I dread to think of how much damage was done across the whole field. I mostly got a clear run from there to the Coxes. 3 minutes up on last year at Megalong, 6:30 up by the river. Scared that I'd gone too fast, but I felt ok.

Stepping down Nellies Glen

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Sadly, the 'ok' was to become a thing of the past. The previous week's gastric contortions started to return, with gut cramping big time. Nothing for it but suffer in silence and get on with it.

I don't know why, but the Lemon Tree Yards is my favourite part of the race. I love that view across the paddock as you come over the crest of the hill. If my hazy recollection is right, it was along here that I ran with vStar for a while; our pink skirts attracting the odd comment. All in good fun.

Luckily, the gut ache wasn't as bad when walking, so I didn't lose much time on Mini Mini and Pluvi. Still 6 min up at Pluvi. My memory of Black Range from last year was running strongly and overtaking lots of people. Not so this year. The strong run became an ugly shuffle, and the passer became the passee. Terry and Maggot both introduced themselves as they flew past. It's only now, with hindsight that I realise that I was running essentially the same speed as last year (still 5:30 up at the deviation); it's just that I was running in a faster wave this year. That's a trap for young players that I'll have to remember. It would have been so easy to give up and back off...

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them.

By the time I got to deviation, I was longing to be able to vomit, but it wasn't going to happen. RunBare's girls were fantastic there, yelling and cheering everyone who went past. I wish I could have given them some recognition in return, but nothing intelligible would come out (Sorry girls! ). Things really started to go bad through here, and I must apologise profusely to any who were running down-wind. If there's an unexpected gap in the results, it's probably because I took out half the field behind me! Still, it's an ill wind that blows nobody good (so to speak), and 25 minutes of rumbles and explosions later I reached the road, now only 2:30 up, but feeling a whole lot more comfortable.

Starting to settle; a few km from the end

The run from here was where I lost it last year, and I was keen to have a red-hot crack this time. The cramp bears had been nibbling for ages, but they'd never really got their teeth in and it was just a matter of keep going and see if I could outrun them. I couldn't, but I got close. They finally got me just at the top of the paved section, bit down on my right calf and wouldn't let go. I remember hop/running down the path (being overtaken - that hurt more than the cramp) and yelling NO NO NO NO as people went past. The cheering was getting louder all the time, and the tsunami from the CR squad as I came around the corner was awesome. 6ft is not much of a spectator race, but you lot really make up for lost time at the end!

Last year, I cramped at the bottom of the stairs and hobbled across the line. This year, there was nothing going to stop me celebrating, so I ended up a weird part-hobbling, part-pumping, entirely exultant, totally emotional, laughing, blubbering mess, to be presented by my beautiful tiger angel with my medal and a 4:24 pb.

Getting a bit sideways in the finishing chute.

To Kevin and the rest of the crew, well done! Enjoy your retirement Kev (though I can't imagine you ever taking it easy).
To the wonderful folk in the Striders 6ft Training Group, thanks for making 4 hours on a Saturday morning seem so much fun, rain, hail or shine.
And to the rest of the pink skirters, we done good, eh?

Getting excited!

Blogger Dashboard tells me that the last time I posted was Nov 16th last year. How time flies when we're both active and uninjured. Too busy training and enjoying it to have time to post. :-)

Just to bring you up to date, tiger angel's body (and hence training) is going from strength to strength. A renewed focus on triathlons over the last 6 months has translated into a lot more time in the pool and on the bike (though not at the same time, I hasten to add) and a little less running. This in turn has resulted in her first Olympic length tri in Canberra last month, and another in Geelong next month.

About half way through the Oly @ Canberra

TA did the sprint at Kurnell today, and despite them lengthening the run course to bring it closer to the advertised 5k, she still ripped more than 8 minutes off her pb (and that was with no taper at all!). It was an absolutely awesome performance. I'm so proud of her, not just for the time that she did, but for the effort and perserverence that she's put in over a few tough years in order to get where she is now. 2009 is going to be a fun year! :-)

As for me, I've just come off the back of my biggest month ever (307km, and Feb is a short month) and I'm feeling well. The 5k on Saturday was my first time back near the pb (8 sec off) since 6ft training got heavy, so it'll be nice to see if it holds up at the 10k next weekend - and even nicer if I can hang it all together up in the mountains in just 14 days time. I even have my pink skirt at the ready, so if anyone else wants to sponsor me for doing 6ft in a Skirt, click here and go for it.

Gnome

Walking on Sunshine

Nepean Triathlon, 2008.

16th October, 2008. A date to remember. Not only the date of tiger angel's longest tri yet, but the first time in many years (if ever) that everything came together just right. The weather was perfect (cool & overcast, but no wind), the training has been the most consistent it's been for years, and

she just blitzed it!!

I've never seen TA so calm heading into a race. All the normal indicators just weren't there. She ate well in the days before. She didn't sleep badly. (I won't detail some of the other normal nervous indicators, but they weren't there either :-) ). There were some concerns regarding recalcitrant joints and ligaments, but essentially it was all calm on the western front.

Calm, that is, until she unleashed the storm. Because of the way Nepean is run with the girls starting ahead of the first men (by the difference in time between the leading man and woman from the previous year) plus my age group starting in the last wave, TA was already on the bike before I even got in the water. As she flew past, she called out "19:30" and I let out such a war whoop that the fellow next to me suggested that I save my energy for the race! (TA was expecting something like 24 minutes, and that 19:30 is by far her fastest 1k yet).

When our wave was finally released, I meandered my way down the course; my patented navigation method of watching the shoreline suffering a fatal flaw called "lack of concentration". Every once in a while I'd remember to look for the shore, only to find it either disappearing in the distance or approaching with extreme rapidity, neither of which were the desired outcome. Note to self. Next year, let's try to switch the brain on before the bike leg.

Transition went really smoothly, and on the bike I managed to catch tiger angel just as we were coming back into the regatta centre. Sadly (for me), I was only on my first lap where as she was finishing her last. Her average speed on the bike was 28.7, again way ahead of expected. I felt really good on the bike this year, so I was surprised to find that I only made a marginal improvement on last year's time. Still, I managed to move up about 80 positions (out of 600) , which only goes to show just how far behind I was after the swim :-)

The run leg was always going to be fun. I passed tiger angel (again!) near the start of my first (her second) lap, chatting away with some new best friend. (How can you compete in your longest ever tri and do better than best-possible times, and still manage to meet someone and discover that they're good friends of your sister-in-law?? It's a skill that never ceases to amaze me). From there, I just set to the task of hunting down anyone with "M49" on their calf and enjoying being able to run again. A 43:29 run moved me up another 130-odd positions - did I mention that I like the run leg? - and I caught my last victim about 250m from the finish.

I ended up taking about 7 minutes off last year's time, but was much more excited about tiger angel's 2:26:38 - her ecstatic goal was 2:35:00! She is now securely anchored by a short string to stop her floating away... :-)

I'm walking on sunshine, oh oh,
I'm walking on sunshine, oh oh,
I'm walking on sunshine, oh oh,
and don't it feel GOOD!

Gnome