Just a regular training day, right?
In preparation for Challenge Wanaka and Ironman New Zealand I decided to race one of the bigger local half IM events - Port of Tauranga with a simple plan - go hard on the bike, control the pace on the run for the first few km and don’t worry about anything else. Well, it worked!
2015 Ironman Taupo race report
After many months of preparation the day has come and I did my first Ironman race. It took 11 hours and 16 minutes to cross the finish line of Ironman New Zealand. Here is my race recap.
Ok, my plan was to go sub 5 hours. Plain and simple. On the one hand I was not preparing directly for that race as my main event is Ironman New Zealand, but on the other hand - I did 5:17 last year on the same course and I wanted to see what progress I have made. It took me 5 minutes and 36 seconds longer than expected. Still, considering the race conditions - I’m happy with that result.
After weeks of preparation and anticipation, the day has come to wake up at 4 am with a big grin on my face. Not every day one can ran on the Harbour Bridge. Another race, another morning of pain and happiness. I ran the Auckland Marathon and it took 3 hours and 50 minutes.
I don’t think I’ve ever been more tired than while trying to run last 15 km of last Sunday race. They say ignorance is a bliss, and this time I had no privilege to be a first timer. Well, the plan was simple - don’t mess up swim too much, smash the bike, survive the run and do it all below 5:30. You might say that it’s a low goal, but being a smoking coach potato for many years I found it accurate for a second half Ironman race. Mission accomplished, and I’m now even more hungry for that sport.
I’ve covered my general goals for 2015 already, so here is time for triathlon specific info. And yes, one of the goals is to beat the time above ;)
Time flies. It seemed like really long time till the North Shore marathon when I signed up. Now there are only 11 weeks left. My training goes well and I’m fitter than ever. I’ll be ready. I believe that I have enough endurance now to complete marathon and most of my focus is on strength and speed. It doesn’t come easy though.
It has been only a week since I've finished the London Triathlon, the race I've been preparing since January. Few months ago it was my ultimate goal for the year, but as it turned out you really can get addicted to racing, even as an age grouper. I was searching for another race in few months and decided to go all in. In 9 weeks I'm going to swim 1.9km, cycle 90km and run 21.1km in one of the most iconic races in Europe. I've signed up for Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote!
Back in January, when I received confirmation of my spot in 2013 London Triathlon it seemed like a really long time to prepare. Suddenly it's only one week till the race. While I am prepared better than I've been expecting few months ago, there is still high level of anxiety involved. After all, with 17000 participants, it is the biggest triathlon in Europe. And I am going to be a part of it.
