Malta was brilliant! We had such a lovely time and the hotel was gorgeous. We spent a lot of time next to the pool! We did go out for a run along the promenade one morning but that was about it for running. I got food poisoning from some mussels so that put me out of action for a day or so.
Hawaii is fast approaching, less than 2 weeks till we head over there. The great news is that my knee is holding up and mending really well. I managed to run a bit over 5km yesterday in 22 min with minimal pain which was really encouraging. I needed to know I could do that.
I sent off my top yesterday with the branding on it for it to be printed, really excited because it is going to look great with the Loopy Love, AOL and TriUK brands on it. It a really nice Zoot outfit which was a great score from TriUK. They sent me some fantastic things as part of the sponsorship deal.
The film crew are coming into my office on Tuesday to interview me here and then we are going to head up to Hyde park to get some shots of me training. I am looking forward to it, it should be a laugh!
Antoinette has been checking out the weather in Hawaii, great weather to be on the beach drinking cocktails! It is over 30 degrees every day. I am not too worried about the heat, it is going to be tough because I have only raced once this year in the heat, every other time was in the wind and cold! Thats the British summer for you!
I know I can race when it is hot, but I have obviously never had to do an ironman in those conditions. I am good at keeping up my fluids and I know I can run when it is hot. I remember when I lived in Sydney I used to go out in 32 - 33 degree heat regularly to run. Maybe my body will remember that!! Lets hope!
The support from my colleagues has been amazing, I think everyone knows I have a knee injury and it is really nice that people are asking how the training is going. I am starting to get really excited about the race now, I just want to get out there and do it!
I have had to admit that summer (if that's what you can call it) is now over. I went out cycling last night in totally inappropriate clothing, shorts and a long sleeve top. I made it to Putney to meet Sam and then pulled the pin, way way too cold. I am feeling OK about the level of training I am doing at the moment, I would like to be doing more but I don't have time now, I need to keep up the intensity but make them short sharp sessions.
The press release from AOL is going out on Monday, I'll post it up here after it has gone out :)
Take it easy
C x
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
General Update :) 20 September 2007
17:02:22 o'clock BST
General Update :)
My knee is getting better, but not good enough to do any decent running. I ran yesterday as I started a running club at AOL a few months back where I encouragepeople into coming out and doing 5km at lunch on a Wednesday. I then take the times of everyone and support them in improving their times. This week I paced one of the girls, Tonja, in for a sub 25. She did so well, although at one point I think she was close to telling me to shove it :)
I am back into doing quality training and I have really found my focus again so have been getting up a bit before 6 this week to do 1.5 - 2 hours and then go to physio. This morning I rode to Richmond Park and rode around there for a bit concentrating on hills and then back for a run. It is so lovely being in there when there isn't any traffic or many cyclists, the deer are close to the road and you feel like you could be in the middle of nowhere. I only managed 10 min run when I got back before I had to stop, just way to painful.
I am also back playing netball with the Tickled Pink girls from lastminute.com at Pimlico on a Tuesday night. I gave it up going into IMUK because I didn't want to risk injury. I managed to do some serious ligament damage in my ankle 2 years ago which meant 4 months off running so I didn't want to risk it.
The team has been playing together for 4 years now and finally we are doing really well. We have only lost 1 game this season, it has taken us a while but we really work well together and everyone is really strong. We are winning by big margins too, last week was 28 - 14 and we are now top of the table.
So I am now best friends with my physio! She is an Aussie chick from Adelaide, in fact she was one of the rising stars of Australian swimming when she was younger so she understands the pressure of athletic performance and getting me back out there as quickly as possible. Natasha is her name and she was really sweet this morning, she told me she was worried that her holiday dates were going to clash with me going to Hawaii as she wants to work with me right up until I go and ensure I am fit.
Sammy and I are off to Malta tomorrow. He has been an amazing support to me over the last few months and very understanding, so this is the just focus on you and not my bike/running/swimming for a few days. Our relationship has been tested more than once due to my commitment to triathlon. We booked this trip some time ago, I obviously didn't know I would be going to Hawaii so it isn't a great time to be taking time off from training but on the plus side it will be a good chance for me to get in some non wetsuit open water training. When I suggested that maybe Sam could get a rowboat and hand energy gels to me the look he gave me was enough for me to know it wasn't going to happen ;) As on all holidays the running shoes are standard. It is a great way to check out the surroundings. Oh no! I just checked the weather and it is going to be raining!! NOOOOOOOO!!! That isn't in the plan!
Have a great weekend!
C x
General Update :)
My knee is getting better, but not good enough to do any decent running. I ran yesterday as I started a running club at AOL a few months back where I encourage
I am back into doing quality training and I have really found my focus again so have been getting up a bit before 6 this week to do 1.5 - 2 hours and then go to physio. This morning I rode to Richmond Park and rode around there for a bit concentrating on hills and then back for a run. It is so lovely being in there when there isn't any traffic or many cyclists, the deer are close to the road and you feel like you could be in the middle of nowhere. I only managed 10 min run when I got back before I had to stop, just way to painful.
I am also back playing netball with the Tickled Pink girls from lastminute.com at Pimlico on a Tuesday night. I gave it up going into IMUK because I didn't want to risk injury. I managed to do some serious ligament damage in my ankle 2 years ago which meant 4 months off running so I didn't want to risk it.
The team has been playing together for 4 years now and finally we are doing really well. We have only lost 1 game this season, it has taken us a while but we really work well together and everyone is really strong. We are winning by big margins too, last week was 28 - 14 and we are now top of the table.
So I am now best friends with my physio! She is an Aussie chick from Adelaide, in fact she was one of the rising stars of Australian swimming when she was younger so she understands the pressure of athletic performance and getting me back out there as quickly as possible. Natasha is her name and she was really sweet this morning, she told me she was worried that her holiday dates were going to clash with me going to Hawaii as she wants to work with me right up until I go and ensure I am fit.
Sammy and I are off to Malta tomorrow. He has been an amazing support to me over the last few months and very understanding, so this is the just focus on you and not my bike/running/swimming for a few days. Our relationship has been tested more than once due to my commitment to triathlon. We booked this trip some time ago, I obviously didn't know I would be going to Hawaii so it isn't a great time to be taking time off from training but on the plus side it will be a good chance for me to get in some non wetsuit open water training. When I suggested that maybe Sam could get a rowboat and hand energy gels to me the look he gave me was enough for me to know it wasn't going to happen ;) As on all holidays the running shoes are standard. It is a great way to check out the surroundings. Oh no! I just checked the weather and it is going to be raining!! NOOOOOOOO!!! That isn't in the plan!
Have a great weekend!
C x
Monday, September 17, 2007
Woo Hoo!! 17 September 2007
13:57:32 o'clock BST Feeling Ecstatic
Woo Hoo!!
Fantastic training sessions on the weekend, I am back baby! Went out on Saturday morning and did 5 hours on my own, really needed to do it. I screwed up my nutrition and didn't have enough for breakfast so that hurt me on the last 10km's coming back in. I went up Box Hill twice, once on the way out on the A24 and once on the way back to get a cup of coffee. Somehow I resisted the lovely jam sponge cake they had sitting there!
The A24 to Worthing is a such a bumpy road. It is exhausting riding along it, I did it because I didn't want to risk getting lost and I knew roughly where I could turn around safely at the 70km mark. Don't think I would do it on my own again, was a bit scary at times with cars shooting past really close.
I ran yesterday for the 1st time in a month, I managed 30 mins with some pain in my knee, but paying the price for it today. I have a massage tonight to try and relieve my incredibly tight ITB's, physio and ultrasound therapy tomorrow morning on the ligaments and more massage on Wednesday. It is getting better, I am just impatient!
Went to see the Brian Wilson concert last night, brilliant. Sam is a massive fan so I went along thinking it was going to be dull, but I was pleasantly surprised. We were the youngest people there by 20 years but it was a great atmosphere. I keep cracking up at the guy sitting next to me who no matter how hard he tried couldn't clap in time. Massive band, there are about 12 of them, 20 at one stage. Really cool concert.
Back into the training tonight, doing some cycling and then off to the pool first thing tomorrow before physio and getting my knee cap strapped again.
Have fun! C x
ps less than 4 weeks to Kona!
Woo Hoo!!
Fantastic training sessions on the weekend, I am back baby! Went out on Saturday morning and did 5 hours on my own, really needed to do it. I screwed up my nutrition and didn't have enough for breakfast so that hurt me on the last 10km's coming back in. I went up Box Hill twice, once on the way out on the A24 and once on the way back to get a cup of coffee. Somehow I resisted the lovely jam sponge cake they had sitting there!
The A24 to Worthing is a such a bumpy road. It is exhausting riding along it, I did it because I didn't want to risk getting lost and I knew roughly where I could turn around safely at the 70km mark. Don't think I would do it on my own again, was a bit scary at times with cars shooting past really close.
I ran yesterday for the 1st time in a month, I managed 30 mins with some pain in my knee, but paying the price for it today. I have a massage tonight to try and relieve my incredibly tight ITB's, physio and ultrasound therapy tomorrow morning on the ligaments and more massage on Wednesday. It is getting better, I am just impatient!
Went to see the Brian Wilson concert last night, brilliant. Sam is a massive fan so I went along thinking it was going to be dull, but I was pleasantly surprised. We were the youngest people there by 20 years but it was a great atmosphere. I keep cracking up at the guy sitting next to me who no matter how hard he tried couldn't clap in time. Massive band, there are about 12 of them, 20 at one stage. Really cool concert.
Back into the training tonight, doing some cycling and then off to the pool first thing tomorrow before physio and getting my knee cap strapped again.
Have fun! C x
ps less than 4 weeks to Kona!
Friday, September 14, 2007
Need to Focus! 14 September 2007
14 September 2007
17:39:00 o'clock BST Feeling Anxious
Need to Focus!
Well, it is only 1 month until the World Champs and I have to admit I am stuggling to get back on track with my training coming out of IMUK. My knee is still giving me grief, I am seeing a physiotherapist every 2nd day so I can get my kneecap taped back into place. I haven't managed to run yet, I am saving that for tomorrow. I out to do a 150km ride, maybe a bit more if I am feeling strong. I am going to cycle down the A24 to the outskirts of Worthing on the south coast of England, then run for an hour. I have decided to go solo tomorrow and really stick to my race pace and try and get myself back on track. I had some bike issues this week which hopefully Sam managed to fix last night. All in all it hasn't been fantastic. Tomorrow is my day to get back on track and focus on Kona.
Have a great weekend!
C x
17:39:00 o'clock BST Feeling Anxious
Need to Focus!
Well, it is only 1 month until the World Champs and I have to admit I am stuggling to get back on track with my training coming out of IMUK. My knee is still giving me grief, I am seeing a physiotherapist every 2nd day so I can get my kneecap taped back into place. I haven't managed to run yet, I am saving that for tomorrow. I out to do a 150km ride, maybe a bit more if I am feeling strong. I am going to cycle down the A24 to the outskirts of Worthing on the south coast of England, then run for an hour. I have decided to go solo tomorrow and really stick to my race pace and try and get myself back on track. I had some bike issues this week which hopefully Sam managed to fix last night. All in all it hasn't been fantastic. Tomorrow is my day to get back on track and focus on Kona.
Have a great weekend!
C x
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
My Fabulous Sponsors 12 September 2007
14:36:30 o'clock BST Feeling Happy
My Fabulous Sponsors
With the World Championships looming on the 13th October I have been busy at physio every 2nd day trying to get my knee fixed and do as much cycling and swimming I can until I am fit enough to start running. It is frustrating to say the least because looking at the qualifying times of the other 35 girls in my age group, I have the fastest marathon qualifying time, and I would like to keep it that way in the race!
As yu can imagine heading out to Hawaii is an expensive business and I have been lucky enough to secure the sponsorship of 4 fantastic brands:
http://www.loopylove.com/ - A really fun place to potentially meet the love of your life! I have used Loopy Love to great success and I would encourage you singletons to give it a go ;)
http://www.triuk.com/ - This is the largest triathlon store in the world. If you can't get it here it doesn't exist! Brilliant team down in Yeovil who know their stuff. They even have an indoor endless pool in the store!!
http://www.powerbar-europe.com/ - I have used power bar products all season and can vouch for their product. I use the energy and recovery drinks as well as the gels in both racing and training. My favourite flavour is blackberry gel!
http://www.aol.co.uk/ - AOL is not only my employeer but also now one of my main sponsors. I work in the product team where we look after some great products such as;
Webmail www.aol.co.uk/webmail - unlimited storage, integrated chat and pictures, free to join
AIM http://info.aol.co.uk/aim/ AOL Instant Messenger) where you can chat with all your buddies, personalise your expression and also get quick easy access into video and pictures.
AOL Pictures http://aolpictures.aol.co.uk/ - Free unlimited storage, share your pictures with your frineds and order gifts and prints online
Winamp http://www.winamp.co.uk/ - Get a fantastic media player with the capability to manage all of your digital assets. Also give you access to the entire shoutcast network of internet radio
Mapquest http://www.mapquest.co.uk/ - For all your mapping needs.
Video - http://uncutvideo.aol.com/Main.do and http://video.aol.co.uk/ You can upload your own videos as well as browse the huge collection, including a great selection of music videos
Safety - http://safety.aol.co.uk/ Stay safe online with a variety of products from AOL
Check out the links if you get time, stay safe and happy training!
C x
My Fabulous Sponsors
With the World Championships looming on the 13th October I have been busy at physio every 2nd day trying to get my knee fixed and do as much cycling and swimming I can until I am fit enough to start running. It is frustrating to say the least because looking at the qualifying times of the other 35 girls in my age group, I have the fastest marathon qualifying time, and I would like to keep it that way in the race!
As yu can imagine heading out to Hawaii is an expensive business and I have been lucky enough to secure the sponsorship of 4 fantastic brands:
http://www.loopylove.com/ - A really fun place to potentially meet the love of your life! I have used Loopy Love to great success and I would encourage you singletons to give it a go ;)
http://www.triuk.com/ - This is the largest triathlon store in the world. If you can't get it here it doesn't exist! Brilliant team down in Yeovil who know their stuff. They even have an indoor endless pool in the store!!
http://www.powerbar-europe.com/ - I have used power bar products all season and can vouch for their product. I use the energy and recovery drinks as well as the gels in both racing and training. My favourite flavour is blackberry gel!
http://www.aol.co.uk/ - AOL is not only my employeer but also now one of my main sponsors. I work in the product team where we look after some great products such as;
Webmail www.aol.co.uk/webmail - unlimited storage, integrated chat and pictures, free to join
AIM http://info.aol.co.uk/aim/ AOL Instant Messenger) where you can chat with all your buddies, personalise your expression and also get quick easy access into video and pictures.
AOL Pictures http://aolpictures.aol.co.uk/ - Free unlimited storage, share your pictures with your frineds and order gifts and prints online
Winamp http://www.winamp.co.uk/ - Get a fantastic media player with the capability to manage all of your digital assets. Also give you access to the entire shoutcast network of internet radio
Mapquest http://www.mapquest.co.uk/ - For all your mapping needs.
Video - http://uncutvideo.aol.com/Main.do and http://video.aol.co.uk/ You can upload your own videos as well as browse the huge collection, including a great selection of music videos
Safety - http://safety.aol.co.uk/ Stay safe online with a variety of products from AOL
Check out the links if you get time, stay safe and happy training!
C x
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
IronMan UK Race Report - 11 September 2007
IronMan UK Race Report
The swim was the best I have ever had in that I was relaxed and actually enjoyed it which is rare for me. By some fluke I managed to find 2 of my girlfriends at the start line which was great so we hung out treading water together. The gun went off and it was a little pushy but people were not being too aggressive, everyone knows they are out there for a while so didn't try and swim over the top of each other. I breathe on my left side and ended up stroke for stroke with this guy who was breathing on his right side and it was pretty funny when after about 8-10 strokes he gave me a little wave. It was comforting to have someone who wasn't taking it super seriously. We ended up losing each other but found each other again on one of the turnarounds and had a bit of a chat whilst getting around the buoy. Don't get that in Olympic distance racing!
I felt great the entire swim and pushed it a bit on the last 500m and was so pleased with myself to come out of the water in 1:14:40 which was over 5 minutes faster than my estimate. I was in 734th position out of 1575, 12th in my age group and 20 minutes behind the leader in my age group. It was also the first time I had swum the distance in open water :)
I was definitely on a high after coming out of the water in a great time for me and that spurred me on. I got into transition and started shouting for someone to help me get my wetsuit off. This lovely guy helped me out and got me into my cycling kit and picked up the mess afterwards taking my bag away. It was a bit of a free for all and modesty gets thrown out the window :) I did at one point have someone's rather hairy naked bottom pointing at me which gave me the hurry up to get out of the changing tent! I ran out into the transition area where some more of my mates were on the fence so was great to see them.
Got out on the bike and against all good advice just went for it knowing I had to catch the girls ahead of me who would probably be taking things easy for the first part of the bike. I hooked up with this Scottish bloke who was riding slightly faster than me so we rode side by side for about 30 mins and I was quietly checking off the girls we were passing and also ignoring the voice of reason telling me to slow down. I dropped the Scottish bloke when I think he realised he was going to hard which spurred me on even more. I got round to the first turn around after 60km and the crowd was really quiet as just before me a bloke had misjudged the corner and come off. I heard my mate Leanne before I could see her so we were shouting at each other like loons which got the whole crowd going. It was an incredible feeling having all those people shouting for me and it put me on a really high and I powered on that for about 40kms, still ignoring that irritating voice of reason telling me to slow down. By this stage I had passed around 20 women but knew that there were a couple from my age group still ahead of me. The weather was pretty good in that it was overcast, no rain as yet but the clouds were threatening.
The third lap the wind really started to pick up and lots of people were slowing down. We also had a couple of patches of rain which doesn't make for happy cycling. I had broken the ride down into 20km chunks and knew I had to average 40 mins per block to hit my 6 hour target. I was really pleased because I was only 2-3 minutes off each lap and given the wind it was tougher than I had anticipated. I did the fastest bike split in my age group by over 3 minutes and was now quite concerned that I had gone too hard on the bike and was going to be hurt on the run.
I was loving all the banter that goes back and forward when you are out there. I kept seeing the Scottish bloke every now and again and that was cool, we would have a chat and encourage each other. There was this other bloke who I kept catching and over taking so then he would chase me back down and get in front again. After this happening at least 2 or 3 times each lap he said to me that I reminded him of an ex girlfriend who used to stalk him. I couldn't help it and told him that this wasn't the case with us because he would now be following me and took off before he had a chance to respond. Knowing that I had been a complete smarty pants to him meant I had to pick up the pace so he couldn't catch me which got me out of there and refocused me on finishing the last 30km of the bike strong.
It was really exciting riding back towards the castle with everyone lining the road, I got to see Rich and Sam who were screaming for me which was brilliant. I came off the bike in 6:10:35 bike and had moved down to 329th position and 4th place in my age group. I was happy with transition and got going. First few steps, 2 things happened. I could feel a cramp starting under my rib cage, something that has bothered me all season coming off the bike, and a felt a twinge under my left kneecap, an old injury that hadn't come up at all this season.
Back at "HQ" Corinna's Mum, Marilyn, was tracking me online and phoning back the information to the support crew who were then passing the information out to whoever was near me on the course. As I was coming up the hill through the campsite on the first lap I could see this spectacle near the stone gates you pass through and my friends had set up a tent and decorated it with flowers. They were also dressed up in grass skirts, shell and coconut bras complete with Wellingtons because of all the mud. Corinna had me and everyone around us laughing at her when she started trying to run in her Wellingtons totallydecked out in her costume, grass skirt, shell bra, flowers all over her, yelling at me to run faster that I needed to win so she could have a holiday to Hawaii. :)
I was so happy to have them around because it took a good 5 miles for the cramp to pass and they were all over that first lap and screaming that I had almost caught one of the girls in my age group. That first 5 miles was a pretty dark place for me because I really didn't think it was going to be able to run any faster and the niggling feeling that I had smacked the bike too hard was back. Not really sure what happened but it went suddenly and I was able to pick up the pace which really lifted me mentally. I know knew it was going to have to be a PB run to catch and beat the 3 girls ahead of me and I was actually really excited about seeing what I could do. I caught 2 of the girls on the first half of the course...1 to go!
After the 2 laps around the castle and campsite you head through the town and out to the duel carriage way which is basically 3 big rolling hills that you go over 4 times. My knee was definitely letting me know there was a problem at this stage. As I was heading out for my first lap I saw Daz coming back in off his last lap and he was looking brilliant. I hooked up with this guy who again was going faster than me and I had to push to keep up with him but I knew I had to make up some time and still had 1 girl to hunt down. With him I got her on lap 1.
I got to the turnaround and Rich was waiting for me, there is a great photo of him running next to me shouting at me that I had to run faster that I was in first place and had 12 minutes on them but had to push it. Sam was also there and I stopped to give him a big sweaty kiss much to the delight of thecrowd! So now I knew I was in 1st, my knee was really hurting and I still had around 10kms to cover I decided to change strategy and just wind it up and try and put as much time between 2nd and 3rd so that if it did go wrong I could try and walk it home and still win. I had run almost 2 hours on the first half and was overtaking so many people who were now walking I couldn't really judge how fast I was going. I just kept telling myself I hadn't trained for 8 months to walk and that I was going to Hawaii. The wind was so bad! Climbing one of the hills the wind was pushing me back, I got gusted so badly at one point I took a step backwards!
Rich was waiting for me on the turnaround point about 1.5 miles from the end and told me I was in 12th overall, including pros. He also told me again to run faster or he would schedule more mile reps :) That was all the incentive I needed! After having so many people on the duel carriageway it was strange running parts of the course on my own back through the town. There weren't many spectators on this part either. Competitive as always I set myself the target of catching whoever was in front of me in order to take my mind off my now screaming knee. Lots of the towns people were around and I was getting lots of encouragement back towards the castle and that picked me up. I also knew exactly where I was so knew it wasn't far to get home.
All of my friends were there lining the finish chute and put a lei around my neck as I went past. When I crossed the line I burst into tears, after 8 long hard months I had achieved what I set out to do. I was handed a bottle of vintage champagne and proceeded to fall off the wagon! IMUK is definitely one of the biggest achievements in my sporting career and I have never worked as hard for anything. I wouldn't change a thing and now I am focusing on getting ready for the World Championships in Kona on 13th October.
The swim was the best I have ever had in that I was relaxed and actually enjoyed it which is rare for me. By some fluke I managed to find 2 of my girlfriends at the start line which was great so we hung out treading water together. The gun went off and it was a little pushy but people were not being too aggressive, everyone knows they are out there for a while so didn't try and swim over the top of each other. I breathe on my left side and ended up stroke for stroke with this guy who was breathing on his right side and it was pretty funny when after about 8-10 strokes he gave me a little wave. It was comforting to have someone who wasn't taking it super seriously. We ended up losing each other but found each other again on one of the turnarounds and had a bit of a chat whilst getting around the buoy. Don't get that in Olympic distance racing!
I felt great the entire swim and pushed it a bit on the last 500m and was so pleased with myself to come out of the water in 1:14:40 which was over 5 minutes faster than my estimate. I was in 734th position out of 1575, 12th in my age group and 20 minutes behind the leader in my age group. It was also the first time I had swum the distance in open water :)
I was definitely on a high after coming out of the water in a great time for me and that spurred me on. I got into transition and started shouting for someone to help me get my wetsuit off. This lovely guy helped me out and got me into my cycling kit and picked up the mess afterwards taking my bag away. It was a bit of a free for all and modesty gets thrown out the window :) I did at one point have someone's rather hairy naked bottom pointing at me which gave me the hurry up to get out of the changing tent! I ran out into the transition area where some more of my mates were on the fence so was great to see them.
Got out on the bike and against all good advice just went for it knowing I had to catch the girls ahead of me who would probably be taking things easy for the first part of the bike. I hooked up with this Scottish bloke who was riding slightly faster than me so we rode side by side for about 30 mins and I was quietly checking off the girls we were passing and also ignoring the voice of reason telling me to slow down. I dropped the Scottish bloke when I think he realised he was going to hard which spurred me on even more. I got round to the first turn around after 60km and the crowd was really quiet as just before me a bloke had misjudged the corner and come off. I heard my mate Leanne before I could see her so we were shouting at each other like loons which got the whole crowd going. It was an incredible feeling having all those people shouting for me and it put me on a really high and I powered on that for about 40kms, still ignoring that irritating voice of reason telling me to slow down. By this stage I had passed around 20 women but knew that there were a couple from my age group still ahead of me. The weather was pretty good in that it was overcast, no rain as yet but the clouds were threatening.
The third lap the wind really started to pick up and lots of people were slowing down. We also had a couple of patches of rain which doesn't make for happy cycling. I had broken the ride down into 20km chunks and knew I had to average 40 mins per block to hit my 6 hour target. I was really pleased because I was only 2-3 minutes off each lap and given the wind it was tougher than I had anticipated. I did the fastest bike split in my age group by over 3 minutes and was now quite concerned that I had gone too hard on the bike and was going to be hurt on the run.
I was loving all the banter that goes back and forward when you are out there. I kept seeing the Scottish bloke every now and again and that was cool, we would have a chat and encourage each other. There was this other bloke who I kept catching and over taking so then he would chase me back down and get in front again. After this happening at least 2 or 3 times each lap he said to me that I reminded him of an ex girlfriend who used to stalk him. I couldn't help it and told him that this wasn't the case with us because he would now be following me and took off before he had a chance to respond. Knowing that I had been a complete smarty pants to him meant I had to pick up the pace so he couldn't catch me which got me out of there and refocused me on finishing the last 30km of the bike strong.
It was really exciting riding back towards the castle with everyone lining the road, I got to see Rich and Sam who were screaming for me which was brilliant. I came off the bike in 6:10:35 bike and had moved down to 329th position and 4th place in my age group. I was happy with transition and got going. First few steps, 2 things happened. I could feel a cramp starting under my rib cage, something that has bothered me all season coming off the bike, and a felt a twinge under my left kneecap, an old injury that hadn't come up at all this season.
Back at "HQ" Corinna's Mum, Marilyn, was tracking me online and phoning back the information to the support crew who were then passing the information out to whoever was near me on the course. As I was coming up the hill through the campsite on the first lap I could see this spectacle near the stone gates you pass through and my friends had set up a tent and decorated it with flowers. They were also dressed up in grass skirts, shell and coconut bras complete with Wellingtons because of all the mud. Corinna had me and everyone around us laughing at her when she started trying to run in her Wellingtons totallydecked out in her costume, grass skirt, shell bra, flowers all over her, yelling at me to run faster that I needed to win so she could have a holiday to Hawaii. :)
I was so happy to have them around because it took a good 5 miles for the cramp to pass and they were all over that first lap and screaming that I had almost caught one of the girls in my age group. That first 5 miles was a pretty dark place for me because I really didn't think it was going to be able to run any faster and the niggling feeling that I had smacked the bike too hard was back. Not really sure what happened but it went suddenly and I was able to pick up the pace which really lifted me mentally. I know knew it was going to have to be a PB run to catch and beat the 3 girls ahead of me and I was actually really excited about seeing what I could do. I caught 2 of the girls on the first half of the course...1 to go!
After the 2 laps around the castle and campsite you head through the town and out to the duel carriage way which is basically 3 big rolling hills that you go over 4 times. My knee was definitely letting me know there was a problem at this stage. As I was heading out for my first lap I saw Daz coming back in off his last lap and he was looking brilliant. I hooked up with this guy who again was going faster than me and I had to push to keep up with him but I knew I had to make up some time and still had 1 girl to hunt down. With him I got her on lap 1.
I got to the turnaround and Rich was waiting for me, there is a great photo of him running next to me shouting at me that I had to run faster that I was in first place and had 12 minutes on them but had to push it. Sam was also there and I stopped to give him a big sweaty kiss much to the delight of thecrowd! So now I knew I was in 1st, my knee was really hurting and I still had around 10kms to cover I decided to change strategy and just wind it up and try and put as much time between 2nd and 3rd so that if it did go wrong I could try and walk it home and still win. I had run almost 2 hours on the first half and was overtaking so many people who were now walking I couldn't really judge how fast I was going. I just kept telling myself I hadn't trained for 8 months to walk and that I was going to Hawaii. The wind was so bad! Climbing one of the hills the wind was pushing me back, I got gusted so badly at one point I took a step backwards!
Rich was waiting for me on the turnaround point about 1.5 miles from the end and told me I was in 12th overall, including pros. He also told me again to run faster or he would schedule more mile reps :) That was all the incentive I needed! After having so many people on the duel carriageway it was strange running parts of the course on my own back through the town. There weren't many spectators on this part either. Competitive as always I set myself the target of catching whoever was in front of me in order to take my mind off my now screaming knee. Lots of the towns people were around and I was getting lots of encouragement back towards the castle and that picked me up. I also knew exactly where I was so knew it wasn't far to get home.
All of my friends were there lining the finish chute and put a lei around my neck as I went past. When I crossed the line I burst into tears, after 8 long hard months I had achieved what I set out to do. I was handed a bottle of vintage champagne and proceeded to fall off the wagon! IMUK is definitely one of the biggest achievements in my sporting career and I have never worked as hard for anything. I wouldn't change a thing and now I am focusing on getting ready for the World Championships in Kona on 13th October.
Monday, September 10, 2007
The numbers + video of me finishing IMUK!
The numbers + video of me finishing IMUK!
So some of my regular readers have asked me what the actual numbers were around IMUK and where I sat amongst those...so here they are...
1575 entrants all starting at once for a 3.8km swim. The fastest swimmer came out of the water in 44:39 (Brian Rhodes who was the favourite to win). Fastest woman was Hiliary Biscay in 49:03. I came out some time after that in 1:14:40 and in 734th position.
The bike is 180km with 2300m of climbing. 3 laps of a hilly, windy course, with a bit of rain thrown in for good measure. Fastest man was again Brian with 4:47:41. The fastest woman was Nicole Klinger with 5:29:49. I managed a 6:10:35 which put me in 13th place out of all the women, including pros. My overall place was now down to 329th.
The run is a marathon. 42.2km of hills with 770m of climbing if you do Ironman UK. Bella Commerford smacked the run in 3:10:01, taking 1st place for the women overall. Fastest man was Scott Neyedli who flew into 1st place with a 2:48:32. I did my best ever marathon time with a 3:30:04 which was the 8th fastest of the women and 88th overall.
Scott Neyedli won in 8:35:53, Bella Commerford for the women in 9:36:09. I managed a 11:04:57, putting me in 12th place for the women, 184th overall and 1st in my age group. I also broke the course record by 21 minutes and my nearest rival in my age group was 22 mins behind me. Bring on the world championships!
So some of my regular readers have asked me what the actual numbers were around IMUK and where I sat amongst those...so here they are...
1575 entrants all starting at once for a 3.8km swim. The fastest swimmer came out of the water in 44:39 (Brian Rhodes who was the favourite to win). Fastest woman was Hiliary Biscay in 49:03. I came out some time after that in 1:14:40 and in 734th position.
The bike is 180km with 2300m of climbing. 3 laps of a hilly, windy course, with a bit of rain thrown in for good measure. Fastest man was again Brian with 4:47:41. The fastest woman was Nicole Klinger with 5:29:49. I managed a 6:10:35 which put me in 13th place out of all the women, including pros. My overall place was now down to 329th.
The run is a marathon. 42.2km of hills with 770m of climbing if you do Ironman UK. Bella Commerford smacked the run in 3:10:01, taking 1st place for the women overall. Fastest man was Scott Neyedli who flew into 1st place with a 2:48:32. I did my best ever marathon time with a 3:30:04 which was the 8th fastest of the women and 88th overall.
Scott Neyedli won in 8:35:53, Bella Commerford for the women in 9:36:09. I managed a 11:04:57, putting me in 12th place for the women, 184th overall and 1st in my age group. I also broke the course record by 21 minutes and my nearest rival in my age group was 22 mins behind me. Bring on the world championships!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
