Monday 11 December 2006

Shepparton Half Ironman 2006










SHEPPARTON IRONMAN 70.3 - The Aftermath...

Here is a little recap of the nightmare of a race that was the 2006 Shepparton Ironman 70.3

SWIM:
Feeling good.. water temp 21.1.. outside temp approx 22 (at 7am).. in the first wave and the race is off.. turn at the 1km mark and still feeling good - just trying to stay out of trouble and away from all the clampets who try and swim over the top/dont look which way they are going (one guy didnt look up and swam straight into the bank-what a loser). have a quick look at my watch and feeling on track. turn the last corner and out of the water in 36min. happy with that time seeing the swim isn't my best leg and wanted to keep a little in reserve for what was to come.

T1:
the transition times dont seem to be showing up on the net which is weird but i had a good T1. In, wetsuit off, legs were feeling good, bike shoes on, helmet on and then off on the bike. grabbed the nutritian (well at least what i thought was enough for the bike - i miscalculated and probably should have taken two more GUs with me.. no drama's, ill grab a hi5 at the first aid station and should be ok).

BIKE:
Starting temp - approx 26 degrees
Leave T1, on the bike round the first corner to hear the cheers CRRRRRAAAAANNNNKKKKKK IIIIITTTTTTTT!!!!! Team Crank IT was in full voice on the side of hte road in shep! great motivation... Open my first GU and take the first bit before i hit a bump and it pops out of my mouth... not cool... ok dont worry - just ride your race, get some water in you and work with what you've got... the first aid station, i have poured both water bidons over me leading into the first station to cool down grab some hi5 and water and crank around the first lap... very very smokey with visability around 100m at most... crank around the first lap and then as i come back into the transition area i pick up the speed to give Team Crank It something to cheer about, i roud the corner belting out a CRRRAANNKK IITTT and the crowd cheers.
Second lap is good, but am starting to feel the heat now and the smoke seems to be getting worse.. it felt like riding a bike whilst standing a coupld of metres away from a ripping fire with the smoke pouring into your face.. not cool. Nothing too much of not on the second lap, wind is starting to pick up and little and feeling the top part of the course getting slower.
Third lap, legs are feeling good - every aid station im getting two bidons of ice cold water and using a lot of it to pour over my neck and back to try and cool down.. very very hot now.. 25km to go and round to the second last aid station.. really need water - super dry mouth from all the smoke.. coming into the aid station i yell out WATER... only to hear NO WATER LEFT!!!!! my heart dropped... No Water!!!! i grabbed a hi5 but i was making me feel sick. the wind had pick up and now was in your face blowing smoke.. disgusting.. then to make it worse i need to go to the toilet but am getting major stage fright on the bike.. finally i let go and it flows freely down my leg.. last aid station grab one bottle of water (thats all they had) and push out the last 10km.
Ride took me according to my watch 2hr46 (i think the times on the web include T1 or T2).

T2: legs feeling good, straight in, rack the bike, runners on, slap on the suncream, hat and grab my GUs and then off.

RUN:
Starting temp - 39 degrees... wowee... HOT!!!!
The less said about the run the better, the first km felt ok, then my right quad start to pulsate, my core body temp was out of the world and everything just felt like it was going into meltdown... i couldn't take on enough water at each aid station and there simply wasn't any reprise from the heat or the belting sun.. fortunately with the wind picking up a little the smoke was lifting but it was still around. First lap, terrible, Second lap even worse, third lap - i just wanted to finish. and i did.

5hours 54min!!!
Finishing temp - 42 degrees!!!!! thats insaino!!!


The aftermath:
Felt ok - kept fludis up, or so i thought. early to bed on sunday night and then up to go to work on monday - sore muscles but that was about it... until the toilet bowl was calling, then the light headedness, then stomach cramps.. took myslef home yesterday arvo and jumped into bed.. severe hot and cold sweats... no energy... ended up being taken to the doctor to be told i had a case of mild dehydration kicking in from sunday's effort.. a couple of tests including of urine and confirmed i need to get some serious levels of water and sugar back in the system. all night in bed sweating it up and the day off work again today am slowly getting back on track...

Mum said well at least now you've done an ironman 70.3 you can cross it off your list and dont have to do it again.... to which i responded - No, this has just given me a time to beat next year!!!

CRRRAAANNNKKK IIIIIITTTTTT!!!!!