NZ 90k bike ride and 21k run

 

....oh yes, after the New Zealand Ironman was cancelled at 6:45am last Saturday, the race officials told us to come back at 8:15am at which time they would announce substitute activities for the day.

 

Ultimately instead of a 3.8k swim, 180k bike and 42.2k run, a 90k bike and 21.1k run was held.  So it turned out we would not even do a half-ironman, more like a 37% ironman.    

 

Seemingly this revised event played to my strengths since I am a weak swimmer.  But I found I was not extremely competitive on this bike distance.

 

In a key respect,  the event turned out the opposite of what I was seeking when I entered the ironman.  As I recall writing in my first blog entry, I wished to do a less competitive, time-intense event -- rather I sought a pure endurance event which would be an accomplishment for me simply to finish. 

 

The bike race had a wildly fast start.  They sent us off at 3-second intervals through a street lined with a screaming crowd.  All the other cyclists seemed to start the ride like they were shot from a cannon.  I told myself to simply maintain the pace I had been training at -- 25k per hour -- as guys literally blew by me, one after another.   I should note that the wind had not really died down at the time of the run.  Early in the ride we were exposed to a side wind that almost blew me over.  The course was roughly out-and-back with a tailwind on the outbound section and a headwind on the return.  So I reached the 45k halfway turnaround in about 1 hour 12 minutes.   Most of the way out I found myself averaging over 40k per hour pace.  I struggled to eat every 20-minutes and stay in my aero bars given the wind, fast pace and rather bumpy road surface.   Of course my 45k return ride into the wind was much slower - a bit over 2-hours, however at least I started passing a few other cyclists - especially when Juergen was running uphill beside me filming me with his video ketai.   My 3:14 bike time seems OK relative to my expectations going in, but I am not sure how to factor in the wind.

 

My thighs were screaming tight from the moment I started the run, and felt painful every step of the 21k.  I had not encountered such stiffness on my bike/run workouts - I guess the faster pace made a significant difference.   Nonetheless I managed to do the first few kilometers at a solid 4:00 minute per kilometer pace, and somehow managed to pick up the pace to 3:55 around the halfway point.  I thought I might achieve a good run time, but begun to fade badly over the final 4-kilometers.  I would primarily attribute my fading to the wind on that part of the race, but perhaps I stopped eating too early.  I clocked myself in about 1:31 for the half-marathon.

 

The crowd in New Zealand was incredible.  My number had my name on it and the people lining the course yelled "Go Jay" with so much passion I felt like they were all family.  It was apparent that the triathlon enjoys a stronger following in New Zealand.