Karapiro Half Marathon (sort of) Run

Yesterday's run was the first race I've done where I didn't worry about being able to finish or at least I didn't worry about keeping something in the tank to make sure I finished. It made for a harder finish because there wasn't much left for the last 5K but I did manage to finish in one piece and my time was probably better for the almost constant effort.

The plan was to average 5 minute k's with a slower start and then picking it up after 5K. I set off easy and relaxed and found what felt like a nice easy 5:30ish pace and then looked at my watch. 4 minute 30 k pace. Eeeek! I eased back a bit and was averaging about a 4:45 pace for the first 5K. It must have been the mini taper I had the previous week and the adrenaline from racing but the pace felt very easy to start with.

Then we hit the hills. The course was more undulating than I had expected and there were one or two long challenging climbs in the out and back course. It was also very windy but luckily the strong wind blew us back into town.

I felt great at the half way point and turned with the watch showing 46 minutes. The course HAD to be short! It does seem weird to me how race directors get distances so wrong. Surely with GPS the course could be easily checked. It seems the bike was also short. Maybe a ploy to get punters to come back because the times are quick ... or just people putting the cone at the wrong spot in the road?

I had my watch set to show actual pace and average pace and the last 10K became a battle to keep the average below 5 minute pace. I lost by a couple of seconds in the last k or so but finished the run in 1:36:15.

Factoring in the shortness of the race that probably translates into a 1:45 which I am really pleased with. My previous best was 1:48 at Huntly Half (which is almost completely flat). I'm pleased with the improvement but I'm thinking that Huntly was maybe a bit short because yesterday's run was definitely much faster/stronger than Huntly. I didn't have GPS back then so I can't compare.

The biggest lesson from yesterday came from looking at my HR data afterwards. I deliberately didn't look at it in the race and I'm glad I made that decision. I would have freaked if at the 6K point I had seen my HR at 175. My judgement would have been that I couldn't hold that for the rest of the race and I'm sure I would have slowed down to bring the HR into the 150's. Yesterday taught me that I can hold mid to high 170 heart rate for a half. I did slow down towards the end and I don't think I could have run much further but I did survive and I kept a relatively even pace.

Another lesson learned was that I can't easily take a gel at that pace. I had planned to take one at the 5, 10 and 15K point but I put off the first gel till about the 10K point and it burned my throat and didn't sit that well in my stomach. I washed it down with a bit of water but I'm still not good at drinking from cups on the run. I had my (comfort) bottle of sport's drink and that saw me through ... although I'm sure I should have drank more than the 750ml I got down. I didn't take the other gels. I'll just have to make sure I get enough nutrition on the bike at Rotorua and try to top up on the run.

Final lesson was that I shouldn't eat bagels too soon before the race. I had to eat something while Paul was on the bike so opted for bagels and honey. It had an hour or so to digest but it must have been sitting in my stomach because I had a stitch for about 20 minutes early in the run. It just came and went and wasn't really a problem but it's not something I've had to deal with before in a race.

Special thanks to Jo and the kids who got up at 4am to come to Cambridge to support me. It definitely made a big difference knowing that they were cheering me on along the run course. Great to have Kate and Phil there as well shouting words of encouragement. It was also good to have half a conversation with Paul on the bike near the last turn. Problem was it was windy, I was tired, he was on the other side of the road and I was only catching half the words. I presume you carried on to your car at that point Paul? Sorry I didn't say Bye. For the first few minutes after the turn I thought you were still behind me. The mind plays funny tricks when you're tired.

On a totally unrelated topic ... congratulations to the All Whites for making the World Cup Finals in SA next year. They showed a lot of guts to win last night. Hopefully it'll raise the profile of football in NZ and world Cup fever can hit NZ next winter. Just need NZ and England to be drawn apart and then maybe we can meet in the final.

Karapiro Half Ironman

Our Team Buckeye Karapiro Half Ironman in pictures

Kate the swimmer





Paul, our cylists waits patiently

A 38 minute swim gives Team Buckeye the ideal start

Quick change over of the transponder

a smile for the camera then Kate ran the 10K back into town

Paul's on his way for the 90K bike

2 hours 48 minutes later it's my turn

I'm just changing over the transponder ... honestly

... and I'm off

tried to keep a Sub5 minute k pace

... and it's all over

a 1:37 Half Marathon (what do you mean the course was short)

Gives Team Buckeye a 5:10 (ish) Half Ironman

Rest in Peace Bill

Not really sure how this post is going to go. I've had a good week's training but it's all been overshadowed by sad news from the UK. My uncle Bill died on Friday. He was very special to me and I make no apologies for reliving and recalling some of the good times (and bad) throughout the post. Most of the memories came flooding back during my Friday run but I'll get to that later. Even if no one reads this blog I think it will do me good to get some of my memories down.

The week started off with a Monday off work (Labour Day in NZ). Best way to start the week me thinks! I didn't do any training but I managed to tame the garden. Hopefully it will mean that there will be no strenuous gardening to be done before the HI ... just a bit of planting and grass cutting. I can deal with that.

Tuesday was just bike intervals on the trainer and shock horror ... a swim! It was only a 1k straight swim but I do try to concentrate on different parts of the stroke so it's almost like drills. My times are coming down so I'll stick with it (18:43 for 1K). Thursday was a similar swim but for 2K in 38:32. I would snap off the hand that offered me that on race day.

Wednesday was another lesson in not eating too much or too soon before running. Jo made my favourite dinner of all time (spaghetti bolognese) and I couldn't resist the huge meal put in front of me. I take Jo's point that it was me that actually dished up the dinner but SHE made it so it was HER fault! I was stuffed but I did have 90 mins before I had to go out. Wasn't long enough. I could feel it all sloshing about with every step. The 6:09/k pace was my slowest average for a long time. Live and learn.

Thursday was another windtrainer session. The weather is getting better and it's staying light fairly late but it just seems easier to do an hour of intervals watching a DVD than going out on the road. Never thought I'd feel like that. I think once summer comes round a bit more I will feel differently and want to get out in the sunshine and pack the trainer away. We'll see.

Towards the end of the session the endorphins were really flowing. I was working hard during the intervals and (as I occasionally do) I had U2 on the i-pod and I can only explain that I had a wave of spirituality. Gawd knows what that means! If I was religious I think I would have explained it as a God experience ... but I'm not ...

I said to Jo afterwards that I was worried. She asked if it was my calf playing up but I said 'no, I'm worried I'm turning religious!' ... might have to give up these mind altering training sessions :)

Friday morning I woke up at 4am and couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned till 6am and then got up and checked my Gmail. There was a message from my brother that Bill had died followed 2 minutes later by a phone call from my mum hoping to catch me with the bad news before I read the email. We were both a bit of a mess and there were lots of tears.

Bill, my dad's brother was 67 but after having meningitis at the age of four, he mentally stayed at that age all his life. He was a child in a man's body for all the time I knew him. He had been ill for the last four years and had been in and out of hospital all this time. It is almost a blessing that he is at peace now and hopefully with my Nan and Grandad who looked after him throughout their lives.

I couldn't face work and as I was only booked onto a course (no class to teach on Friday) I decided to take the day off. Jo suggested we got out and walked around the Mount but then she said 'I think you need to RUN and get all your emotions out ... let's go to the Blue Lake' ... I didn't argue. Laura was also in tears. We kept her off school and took her with us. Adam wanted to go to school so I took him in and then we were off to the Blue Lake.

Jo dropped me off at the Lake and then headed into town with Laura. They were off to shop. My idea of hell. I was going to run most of the Rotorua Half Ironman course.

I set off with no strategy and no planned pace or time target. I just wanted to run and remember Bill. You might want to skip the rest of the post as I just ramble on about my memories of Bill.

My earliest memory of Bill is his bed in the front room of my nan's house. Not quite the opening scene from Willy Wonker's Chocolate Factory but similar. Bill couldn't walk and had to be taken everywhere in a wheelchair. It was a mission for me and my dad to get him out of bed when we were there. It still amazes me that my nan did it on her own (my grandad died when I was young) gawd knows how many times a day, every day. She was a big strong lady but Bill was a 6ft tall bloke who had very little strength to help himself. When my nan died in 1982 the doctor's said that she had lived as long as she did because she had such a strong heart and general strength from lifting Bill every day.

As a kid, Christmas was always spent at my nan's and it seemed we stayed there for weeks and weeks and had a great time. Bill was born on Christmas day and so it was a very special day. Bill lived for two things. Cups of tea and buses. As long as he had a few red buses to play with and tea at regular intervals all was right in his world.

It was always the mission to get Bill a different red bus as a present. I remember one year my dad spending a 'fortune' on a big Tonka truck and seeing Bill's indignation that it wasn't a red bus. Obviously he had five others wrapped up under the tree so it was no problem but the Tonka truck didn't make it onto the board balancing on a chair at the side of his bed. That was his play area. Me and my brother's would zoom the busses back and forth and he would love it ... for a while. He would then spend an age meticulously lining up the busses in a perfect straight line parallel to the edge of the board. Woe betide anyone that knocked the board and jogged them out of line.

When my nan died there was no option but to find Bill a nursing home. My nan had always resisted this because as a teenager Bill had spent some time in a home and the story went that the family went to pick him up and found him tied to a fence for some wrong doing. I can understand why she looked after him herself. We told ourselves that times had changed and these types of things didn't happen anymore.

Thankfully we found a great home. It was obviously sad when my nan died but it just seemed so much sadder when me and my mum and dad left Bill for the first time at the home. We just didn't know if he knew what was going on. Bill could talk but his vocabulary was limited to just a few words and you had to be tuned into his speech to understand him. He said bye when we left and he seemed happy but we just didn't know. It was a heart wrenchingly bad experience for us all. Fortunately he loved the place. The staff were living angels who worked long hours for a pittance and he loved the people who looked after him.

He had changed homes a few times over the years thanks to Margaret Thatcher's policy of care in the community which meant the closure of large scale homes and the use of real houses in the community. Bill always seemed to come up trumps in any change and always settled in well.

His last bedroom was unbelievable. It had flat screen plasma TV, DVD, ensuite and was a shrine to the red bus. The walls were filled with posters and framed paintings of busses. We saw Bill and his new room during our visit to the UK last year and it was amazing.

More and more memories came back to me on the run and it was very emotional. I had to get a grip of myself on the long steep hill back to the lake cos blubbering and gasping for breath at a 160 heart rate just don't mix.

I had a great run in the end. I went out faster than I normally do and didn't finish strong but overall it was good. Just over 17K at a 5:23 pace ... but that wasn't the point of the run. I felt so much better after the run. I started my warm down stretches on the 'beach' and watched as Jo sailed past in the car. Luckily a few minutes later she came back to pick me up. Missed the turning!

Saturday was a rest day. Spoke to my family in the UK and also my aunt who lives in Australia but is staying over my mum's as my other uncle (their brother) is in hospital with blood clots and they have also discovered he has cancer. They can't treat the cancer as he is too weak from the blood clots. We're praying that they can get the blood clots under control so that he can be treated for the cancer. As you can imagine it's been a traumatic time all round really. I think that's why it was so emotional when Bill died. We are all on edge anyway waiting for news of Glenn and then that news. Saying that I know it would have been emotional anyway but ...

I have looked at flights to go back but there is nothing I can do, but look after my mum. My aunt said that that is why she is there, as well as to be with my uncle. My teaching classes finish end November. I might look at flights again then.

As I have said many times before, I am not religious BUT as most non-religious people do, in a moment of need, I am praying for my uncle. If you have a few minutes for a similar prayer it would be appreciated.

Better Week

I had a much better training week this week. After the mistakes of last week it was good to almost follow the plan this week. I didn't swim as much as I wanted as I only got two sessions in but I'm sort of happy with my stroke now. The energy I'm putting in and the times I am getting are roughly what they were last year at this time and if I get in the pool at least a couple of times a week I should be OK for Sub40 mins. Last year I missed loads of swim sessions near to the race and paid for it! Not going to happen this year.

My running has been fairly good this week. I have learnt now that I always have a bad run if I go out straight from work. Not sure if I need to relax before I go out or I need a bit of fuel or what it is but for the last couple of weeks my Monday run after work has been horrible. No work this Monday so that's not going to happen but I need to play around with the timing/nutrition etc to see why this is.

My Friday night long run was much better this week. Went far too fast last week. This time I set my virtual partner on my Garmin to 6 min/k pace and just tried to keep with him. The run is hilly on the way out and flat on the way back so at the turn I was 33 seconds down. Good news. At least I didn't go out too fast (but I NEVER do!).

I increased the speed a bit along the flat and the time came down very quickly. After a few K I was level and sitting on his shoulder. No words were exchanged. We ran together for a K or so and then I increased the pace and pulled away. I didn't want to get too far in front as I wanted a 6min pace overall but I was soon 38 seconds in front and then for the rest of the run I couldn't slow down enough for him to catch me and I didn't want to walk. Waited at the finish but no-one turned up. He must have gone straight home. I didn't think I'd use the virtual partner runner thingy but it was fun and made the run more interesting.

Tuesday night for me is interval night on the windtrainer. I've adjusted my seat (AGAIN!) and I seem (although it might be psychological) that I'm getting more power to the pedals for a given heart rate. I need a powermeter (Jo!) ... I never thought I'd love the windtrainer but for an hour of intervals I think it's great. It's certainly given me leg muscles I've never had before. Unfortunately Jo hates the muscools so she's unlikely to let me buy anything to increase them :(

I started my Sunday ride with an over the top level of anxiety and trepidation. Last week's ride knocked my confidence a bit. I knew I had made mistakes in the week but quitting after an hour on the bike was not good. Fortunately this weeks ride was much better. I headed for Reid Rd and got in some leg strengthening and muscle building (sorry Jo) climbs.

I like climbing on the bike more than riding on the flat because it keeps me honest and I HAVE to put in the work. There's no way you can slack on the hills. Too easy to dawdle along on the flat but not so on the hills. I managed to do four climbs and got very close to my record. This time's best time was 11:59 (which I was pleased with). Best time is 11:54. Should have worked harder :)

The most pleasing thing about the climbs yesterday was that if you carry out the geeky calculations that I did last year and work out the m/b which is metres travelled for every heart beat (speed in metres per second divided by heart rate in beats per second) the figures have increased significantly ... well by about 0.1m but I'll take anything. That does mean that for every heart beat I am travelling 0.1m further and if I take an average of 130 beats per minute I am travelling a further 13m up the hill for no increased effect on my heart! Sort of. I presume it means my heart muscle has got bigger. At least Jo can't see that one and complain about it's size. There's so many places to go after that line but I'm not going there.

The only (training) downside to the week has been a pain at the top of my left foot after the long run (shoes too tight I think) and a stiff right calf. The right calf is the worry. I'll make sure I warm up really well before any runs this week and NOT go too fast. There's only three weeks till I run the Rarapiro Half marathon as part of a Half Ironman team. Really looking forward to that. Don't want to mess things up leading into it.

It's a long weekend in NZ and the sun is shining so that means only one thing. I need to attack the garden. Our house sit's like a diamond shape in the middle of a rectangle and so unfortunately we have (sort of) FOUR separate gardens. I need to attack No4. Believe it or not the grass is about 3 foot in places. Everything gets too big in the Bay of Plenty. Eh Jo ;)

Mistakes ... I made a few!

They do say that you learn more from your mistakes than anything else and if this is true I should be an expert on training after the last few days.

Today's ride (Sunday) was a total disaster. Saying that, nobody was hurt (or killed) and so disaster might be too strong a word but it felt like it after I plodded home at 3km/hr after only an hours ride.

The failure of the ride can be (I think) attributed to 4 main mistakes made in the preceding days. It could also be attributed to mental weakness during the ride but I think sometimes it's wise to cut these things short and live to fight another day.

So ... my mistakes in chronological order were:

Mistake 1

Friday's swim was supposed to be for distance and technique rather than speed and I was supposed to take it easy and just get some swim time in the bank. So what did I do? I tried to beat the previous day's 2K time of 39:53. I went all out and took 59 seconds off the time. It felt great and I was so pleased that after only a few times in the pool I was able to get my time down to where I want it to be. Big mistake. I was shattered in the afternoon and wasn't really feeling like doing my Friday night long run.

Mistake 2

So after the overdoing it in the pool I set out on my long run (14K). The further I got into the run the better I felt and I forgot about being tired and was really enjoying it. It just turned into one of those runs where it feels effortless and you feel like you can run forever ... and this was over the part of the course that is relatively hilly.

The return road runs parallel to the hilly road but is almost perfectly flat. I made the turn, took a gel and felt 'fast'. I started to up the pace a bit and it felt great. The Garmin was showing Sub5 minute K's. I knew it was too fast and I slowed down a bit ... but the music on my i-pod kept getting to me.

I had Bono singing Magnificent in one ear telling me that he was 'born to sing for me and lift me up' ... and run faster apparently and I had a fellow blogger (who shall remain nameless) in the other ear telling me to 'slow down you bl@@dy idiot, long runs are supposed to be SLOW!'.

Unfortunately Bono won and I kept up the pace and ran the last 5K at about my 5k pace. Fortunately nothing went 'snap' and my legs felt strong and I felt 'high' for about an hour after the run. After that I felt shattered and had to fight to keep my eyes open for the rest of the evening ... although that's not that unusual.

Mistake 3

I love making curries. I have been striving for that texture you get in the restaurants. I could always get the flavour but I have only recently perfected the texture. I made a (smacks lips while writing this) gorgeous Chicken Madras for me and Jo Saturday evening.

I thought it a bit risky having a curry the night before my long ride but we had it early and so didn't worry too much ... and I think it would have been OK if I had left it at that but ... we had ice-cream for desert and I had a bit too much for my own good. We needed it to cool down our mouths.

Still felt OK though. I think the actual mistake of Mistake No3 came when I was putting away the left overs (I always make a big batch for dinner the next day as well) in the fridge later that night just before going to bed. It looked so good and curries tend to mature a bit after they're cooked and I just had to have a bit of a taste to see how it had 'developed' ... so I had a bowl (just a small bowl mind!). Gorgeous!

Mistake 4

I woke up early Sunday morning ready for my ride. My stomach felt awful from the curry/ice-cream/curry combo and my legs felt trashed from the 'too fast' long run. I had rested well Saturday but I didn't seem to have much energy this morning. I couldn't face a proper breakfast but managed to eat a bit of a banana.

My main mistake this morning was not wearing appropriate clothing for the weather. It had been warm the day before and I presumed it was going to be the same today. It seemed quite nice when I looked out of the window and I went with a short sleeve top. Couple of minutes into the ride I realised the mistake when the wind picked up to gale force and the rain, which felt like icy sleet, blew horizontally into my face. I was freezing.

I tried to pick up the pace to generate some heat but my legs protested (something about being tired from Friday!) and I couldn't get my HR up at all. I did a 10K loop and went home for some warmer clothes. I nearly canned the ride then but decided to get back out there and at least make it to 2 hours.

After about an hour in total I was done and just wanted to get home. If I had been doing a long out and back I suppose I would have been forced to stay out longer and I would have plodded on but I was staying close to home and it was easy to head back. It was a failed bike ride but it's only one session in a 10 week block. No big deal. I was going to run off the bike but there was no way that was going to happen. I'll put it down as a 'learning experience'.

It was a disappointing end to a really good training week. I managed to get three swims in, two great bike interval sessions on the windtrainer and a great, if a bit too fast, long run in. A good bike ride today would have made it a perfect week. Unfortunately that will have to wait till next week.

Next week's goals

1 bike interval session on Tuesday

3 swims but only one 'fast' session - NOT on Friday

3 runs including a long, SLOW! run on Friday. I will up the distance a bit so that I can't run too fast.

A decent Sunday morning bike ride of at least 2 hours.

No Saturday night curry!

Can't wait!

10 Weeks Till Rotorua

It's getting very close ... and it seems to have crept up very quickly. I don't have much time to write this entry but I just wanted to document roughly where I am at in my training.

My swim training has been a disgrace recently. I made the decision to cut back on the swims and get more 'bike fit' and I think it has worked to a certain extent BUT I was supposed to have got back in the pool way before week 10.

Oh well. Can't change the past. I will make every effort to get in the pool at least three times a week for the next 10 weeks. How hard can that be? I'm not looking for a super fast swim. If I can match last year's 40 minutes then I'll be happy.

My bike speed on the flat has definitely increased since last year but unfortunately that doesn't seem to translate to the hilly Rotorua course. My recent attempt at the course was very similar to last year. I have lost weight which has helped because I seem to be able to climb the big hills easier ... I just don't climb them any faster. All good though cos in theory it should give me more on the run.

I'm much more comfortable in the aero position this year and I'm sure my bike set up is more aerodynamic and more 'right' for me. I'm hoping the energy I save with this can be used on the run.

So ... I don't think I'm going to be any faster than last year but my theory is that (hopefully) I will get off the bike with more energy for the run. If I can get off with a 3:15 bike I will be happy. 3:10 would be better but I'm not sure how realistic that would be.

Now we come to the unknown. I don't have the experience of last year's run to use. I just hope that I can get further than 5K into the run this time. What I do have is the experience of the build up to the race where I pushed it too hard on training runs. The calf was on the brink of injury 2 weeks before the race and it just took the over enthusiasm of the start of the race run to tear the muscle. NOT going to happen this year.

I am going to push the pace in some of the runs but I won't be going silly. I'm doing the Rarapiro Half Ironman run in a team and I want to push that BUT if I feel the calf playing up I will ease back (sorry Kate and Phil).

My running suffered a bit last week cos I hurt my rib (don't ask) and couldn't run at the start of the week. Got plenty of bikes in and I finished the week off on Saturday with a good 2hr bike / 10k run. The 58 minute 10K wasn't exactly fast but I felt strong and in control and if it had been a race I felt I could have gone faster ... not much but a little bit.

So ... the maths says that I need a Sub2 on the run course. Gawd knows if I can go that fast after the bike ride. I feel confident that I could do it as a stand alone run but that means Jacksh!t in a triathlon. My legs felt really good coming off the bike last year and I know I am stronger this year so I'm hoping to feel as good.

I did feel a bit sick at the start of the run last year but I'm putting that down to the chocolate muesli bar that I had on the bike last year. Tasted great at the time but I think I'll pass on that this year. I did the recent bike ride of the course using only fluids and it seemed to work. I'll go with this I think. Going to get one or hopefully two more rides on the course to try a few things and then make the final decision.

The next 10 weeks are going to be VERY important to the success of Sub6 at Rotorua. I don't want to get to Race Week regretting that I didn't do everything to make it possible. I know that I am going to miss some workouts but I hope to get to the end of each week and to have done at least:

1 interval session on the bike

3 swims

long run of at least 90 mins

Consistency of runs is also important. I need to run every other day ... even if it's just a 20 minute jog around the block. I need it to keep my calfs flexible.

Going to do the following

Weeks 1 - 3 HARD!

Week 4 - Relatively easy - cut back on long stuff

Week 5 - 8 HARD! with one or two race bike rehearsals (also includes Half Marathon for Team in Week 5)

Week 9-10 Taper! ... and make sure I have something to taper from!

So it's simple. Run every other day, get my key sessions in, stay healthy and turn up fresh on race day. What could be easier!

Let the countdown begin .....

Bike Rehearsal

NOTE ... At one point in the evening the 'pictures' posted on this entry were clickable and you could see and read the bigger images. Not quite sure why I can't now. Ah well ... you're not missing much :)

It was a big training weekend for me. Saturday I had another crack at running up the Mount. This time I didn't take a camera and so didn't have an excuse to stop and admire the view 15 times during the attempt. This time my only excuse was the need to throw up at about halfway. I had to stop. My HR was 170 and I felt really sick. Thankfully I wasn't sick and my HR went down fairly quickly. Sitting on my @r$e on a rock had something to do with it I think.

I sat on a rock at the lookout that has a hairpin bend. To the right it went down to the base track and to the left it went up to the top. I convinced myself that I would start a new challenge and see how far I could get each time and that this was the current point and it was OK to go right (down) and back to the basetrack.

I then thought about just walking to the top. Yeah that wouldn't be failure.

At some point a man walked past me with a walking stick who must have been more than 70 years old. Not quite sure why but it inspired me to RUN the rest of the way. Next time I WILL run all the way without stopping!

I finished off the morning run with another lap of the basetrack. It feels so much easier after running up the Mount. Perspective is a funny thing.

An opportunity arose on Sunday for me to sneak off and ride the Rotorua bike course. Adam had an all day party and Jo and Laura wanted to go see a 3D film (UP) so I was freeeeeee!

I wanted to put right the mess that I had made of the last attempt. This time I took enough calories to eat/drink throughout the ride. I also ate breakfast closer to my start time. Two hours seems to work for me.

I wanted to run off the bike so I wasn't going to totally hammer the ride. I decided on a 135 HR cap. I have no scientific reason for this ... only that 135 seems like a HR that I can sit at for a long time (I think) ... it's probably my Ironman bike HR so I think I should be going a bit hotter for the half but my goal for Rotorua is to have a good run and if going a bit slower on the bike is going to help achieve this then that's what I'll do.

I'm going to do a 40K TT soon and take this as 105% of my threshold and then see what 80% of this is. I'll then toss this up with my perceived ideal HR of 135 and see what I get.

So ... I rode out keeping HR in the low 130's and it felt easy. I even enjoyed Hell's Gate because it gave me a chance to sit up and stretch and admire the view. Coming down the Tarawera road was an experience and I hit my highest speed ever (I think) of over 73km/hr. Getting a little less scary each time ... only a little less mind!

At the halfway point I felt really good and was looking forward to riding home strong and smashing my previous times. Reality hit very quickly when I realised (AGAIN!) that it was straight into a headwind. Unlike last time I was able to spin into the wind and keep the speed near the 30km/hr mark (most of the time).

I seemed to be making good time and I was soon over Hell's Gate and onto the Airport Road. The wind seemed to be a slight tailwind and I took advantage of it and I was soon on the Tarawera Rd climb. This is where the time just flies as you grind up the looooong hill. It was no different today. The seconds and minutes just seemed to slip away and the top of the hill didn't seem to get any closer. It's a cruel finish to the bike ride ....

... but then you realise that it isn't the finish and although there's probably only a kilometre or so left it too seems to go on forever until you hit the big downhill to T2. It was at this point that I had my first Magpie attack.

I saw the flapping shadow on the road in front of me and thought that's getting big/closer. The next thing I heard was a loud thwack. I turned round and saw the (HUGE) bird above my head. Not sure if the thwack sound was it hitting my helmet cos I don't think I felt anything or if it was the flapping of the wings but it was a bit of a shock. I didn't see the bird again thankfully.

Finished in just under 3hrs 15 so was OK with that. I was hoping for between 3:05 (previous best) and 3:10 but I suppose I did go quite conservatively and I did have the fatigue from the Mount run in my legs so I'm not too worried. I hope to get another crack at it in a month or so's time.

I know I don't have to keep riding the course to be ready for the race but it is such a great ride that if I can, I will. It's also great to be able to run around the lake afterwards.

The screenshot shows the story of my run

Very pleased to have been able to run off the bike at this pace. Short story is a very slow start to get my legs back and then a slight increase in pace to the finish. All good!

Today (Monday) is the first day of my school holiday ... only got four days this time as I'm saving leave for when my parents come over in January. It was supposed to be a day of rest but the garden called me and I hacked some bushes and trees and with the help of Laura, planted some of the cuttings we took in the summer. It was good to get a bit of gardening done, even if it was raining most of the time. Only downside is that I'm sure the aches and pains I'm going to feel from it tomorrow are going to be far worse than from the weekend's training. Ah well. Recovery run tomorrow!