Ironman New Zealand Race Report
Race morning was picture perfect, with the best weather day in what seemed like months of downpours and high winds for the residents of Taupo. The water in the lake was a chilly 60 degrees, and a course change was implemented due to the high water levels, replacing the last fast 600 meter downstream section with a longer out-and-back and adding a 400 meter run to the swim/bike transition.
This being my first pro race made my swim start a bit crazier than usual, with the center of the mass of age-group men starting just a couple of meters behind me, descending upon me within the first 50 meters of the swim. One guy grabbed my head and pushed me well under the surface while the rest of them sandwiched me on several occasions. All in all, the swim went okay, but I would have liked to put together a slightly stronger effort. Still, it was my best Ironman swim split to date, with a 1:00:50 finish, so no complaints here.
Spending a little extra time in transition to apply arm warmers on a chilly and foggy morning was definitely a good decision. The first 40K of the bike was about as cold as I could stand (but not even close to the chill at Wildflower half last year), but things warmed up quickly as the sun burned off the morning fog. I took the first lap of the bike quite conservatively (unlike my usual hammer the bike self) and exchanged places with a few of the pro women on one or two occasions.
This race was a rare occasion where I took in the views of the beautiful New Zealand countryside rather than focusing purely on turning over the pedals. After the climb at the beginning of lap two, I decided to put the hammer down on the long tailwind descent and created a bit of a gap on the women that previously had passed me, bringing me up to 6th place overall at 120K into the bike.
Despite this being one of my first few rides on my new Specialized S-Works, I was extremely pleased with how the bike felt and how my race was progressing. The long gradually climb back into town with a fairly stiff headwind was less than optimal for everyone, but I generally felt strong through to the end.
Coming into transition, I felt like I was well hydrated, fueled and didn't overdo it on the bike, but the legs just weren't there for the marathon. I'm guessing it has something to do with my unusually short winter training preparation and whopping average 25 miles per week of run training. Chugging along at about an 8-minute pace (all I could muster at the time), I was passed by several other pro women and was out of the top 10 by mile 12 of the run. By then, my gut was starting to bother me and I had developed severely painful blisters on the soles of both feet, making every step an exercise in torture. Knowing that the best I could do for the day would be 12th place, and that would have required a month of recovery, I decided to enjoy the rest of the day with a nice brisk 10-mile walk where I could cheer on the other competitors and finish the race with a smile.
I had so much fun on an incredibly beautiful day in Taupo and met some great people in the process. Also, thanks to so many generous friends and family members, I had a very successful fundraising campaign, bringing in $3800NZ for cystic fibrosis. In essence, I turned the race into a hard training day that would allow me to recover in a matter of days instead of weeks, so that I could focus my efforts on my upcoming races. Now, all I have to decide is, what will they be? World's Toughest Half is up next, but no decision yet on my next Ironman.
So the race ended for me with my slowest ever Ironman finish: 10:51:43, and 16th in the women's pro field. Amazingly, had I raced as an amateur, that time would have made me the champion of my age group and qualified me for Hawaii, so not bad at all for an Ironman that included a 10-mile walk! I also had an absolute blast traveling with Deepak and the Premium-Plus Sports travel group. There were a whopping 150 of us and many new friendships were made during our adventure.