Back at work with the massive high's of last weekend quickly disappearing into the past I thought I'd write a short race report, if only to remind myself of the last few days and delay the traditional low that accompanies
such a big high.
Don't be expecting anything quite as epic as Robbies works of art, I have no idea how you remember so much from a race mate - my memories tend to be a big blur of pain. Anyway...
The build up to the race weekend went smoothly and injury free, largely thanks to my personal masseuse, Kat, and certainly no thanks to the 4 weeks of boozing and eating that I took part in over my christmas holidays back home in the UK . Still, the hard work I had put in over winter and the early part of summer seemed to have paid off as I quickly found my riding legs again and having continued to run over Christmas (42km in the snow was a bit of a change from the norm!) I wasn't too concerned over that leg. There was
always the swim to worry about, but that was the least of my concerns really - I knew I could struggle through it one way or the other, as long as I put the time in in the water.
So, on to Taupo we went (Kat, myself and Alex), managing to avoid any overweight luggage charges through the deft skills of our accompanying Frenchman, who was chatting up every available Air NZ member of staff, male or female, blinding them with charm and sneaking the bags through.
Having got down to Taupo no probs and going through registration, we met up with JC, Dingo, Juan, Ben and Bevan at the carbo party on the Thursday night to begin the process of winding each other up and talking crap (well everyone else did anyway, I was too busy getting my money's worth from the
buffet).
Despite the unusually high level of interest that Dingo was showing in my hairy legs and his desire to see them smooth, I was determined to be the fastest hairy man out there, if not just the only hairy man out there.
We all met up Friday morning for a quick swim/bike/run and I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the lake was to swim in. Beautiful clear water and didn't feel slow at all (comparatively speaking of course). The weather was also looking bright, which wasn't forecasted.
Having checked the bike in, complete with a set of new tires (these feature later in the story!) it was back to the apartment to rest and feed up. None of us seemed too nervous, although the chatter of the last few months of training had suddenly dissapeared and everyone was focussing on what lie
ahead.
So after a good nights sleep and porridge for breakfast, I was floating in the water at the race start, looking back up to the lakeside and the HUGE crowd that had gathered to watch the start. It was easily the most exciting race start I've been in and the atmosphere was electric. The gun went off and I quickly began my process of controlled drowing/arm flapping in an attempt to get to the far end of the course and back again in some sort of respectable time. I got out the water in 1:04, which was a 3 min PB from port last April, and started the long run up to transition, confident I would be on the bike in 1:10 which was my original goal, which I did (despite managing to rack up a longer T1 time than anyone else in the group
- no idea what I was fannying around at!).
Settled onto the bike quickly and started the long climb out of the town - when the inevitable happened and I got that soul crushing feeling that only an unusual rumbling feeling coming from your wheel can give you...yep, try as I might to pretend it hadn't happened again, my back tire has punctured.
I managed to get my brand new tire off quickly and only gave a passing thought to how much that first 10km just cost, and got the old spare tire back on there. The mechanics turned up just then with a track pump and gave me hand, and I was back on the bike in about 5/6 mins I think. I managed to stay calm and stretched out my quads a bit, keeping in mind Johns comments that if I did get a flat, just use it as a chance to have a rest and a stretch.
Back on the bike and determined to catch Alex, who had got out of the water a few mins ahead of me. The roads were bumpy and the wind was in your face for the entire way out, but I knew if I just stayed steady into the wind then I could turn the pace coming home with the tail wind. Same plan for the second and final lap, although the wind had picked up a lot, the rain had started to get heavy and the temperature had dropped, so heading out on the 45km away from town the moral was starting to drop. I hadn't seen any of the others for the whole ride and also hadn't managed to find any groups going at my pace, so I just get plugging on on my own. I finally found Alex at the final turnaround, who was having bad stomach problems but was powering on none the less.
So it was off the bike and on to my favourite part. I had managed to pull back a 5:18 ride, which considering the flat and riding on my own I was happy with. It also gave me the chance to run a 3:10 marathon for a sub 9:40 finish, which I was really after.
Kat was waiting for me at the start of the run and gave me a run down on how far ahead Juan, JC and Dingo were. I started very slowly on the run, hurting a bit from maybe going too hard on the ride. Anyway, I just plodded on for 15km until I could feel a bit of bounce back in my legs, making sure I was eating and drinking as much as I could without getting sick, then I tried to turn it on, determined to run down everyone in front of me.
A few guys hung on the back of me going into the strong wind at the far turnaround and certainly weren't trying to run as a group, which irritated me a bit made me determined to hurt them, so I gradually picked up the pace bit by bit, trying to fool them into going faster than they thought they were until they dropped, which they did. Not very nice of me, but after god knows how many hours out there, I wasn't
prepared to act as a windbreak for people!
Going into the second lap, inhaling caf gels like there was no tomorrow, I needed to run a sub 50min last 12km to nail a 3:10. sounded easy in my head, and then I hit the wind and the hill at the turnaround again, and it all went to pot. Still I powered home, trying to keep my form and pass as many people as possible. I had already gone by Juan and JC but hadn't seen Dingo anywhere, although Kat had said he was 10mins ahead going into the final lap, and it wasn't until I crossed the line that I saw him there, 1 min ahead of me.
I hadn't seen anyone in my age for the last 10km or so, so I though I must be quite high up and still though I had a chance of top 5, but soon found out I had rolled in 9th. Still, I was more than happy with top 10, with a flat, and I'd given everything I had. I would go along to roll down, if only to see what actually went on behind those locked doors...
So, roll down... the old Jim Carey announced, through his crazy bright white teeth, that of the 5 spots available in my age, 2 had been taken. I couldn't believe it...i was positive they would all go. That meant I was still 1 off contention and with 3 aussies ahead of me it seemed impossible that any of them would let this chance go.... as the name of 8th place Andy Myers echoed around the theatre, with no response, my legs went totally to jelly... convincing myself that may be I had made a mistake and wasn't next in line
at all, then Oliver Lamb was announced.
Happy days. still can't quite believe it. Some people came up to me at the after party and said "we know you, you were the happiest guy on the stage!", which pretty much sums up my NZ trip.
So, on to the running season then a cold (but hopefully not lonely - I'll be cheering all you guys at Port!!) build to Kona, smiling all the way . you know me, always smiling in the morning.
Sorry, went on a bit!
Thanks for all your messages and support,
Cheers,
Oli
such a big high.
Don't be expecting anything quite as epic as Robbies works of art, I have no idea how you remember so much from a race mate - my memories tend to be a big blur of pain. Anyway...
The build up to the race weekend went smoothly and injury free, largely thanks to my personal masseuse, Kat, and certainly no thanks to the 4 weeks of boozing and eating that I took part in over my christmas holidays back home in the UK . Still, the hard work I had put in over winter and the early part of summer seemed to have paid off as I quickly found my riding legs again and having continued to run over Christmas (42km in the snow was a bit of a change from the norm!) I wasn't too concerned over that leg. There was
always the swim to worry about, but that was the least of my concerns really - I knew I could struggle through it one way or the other, as long as I put the time in in the water.
So, on to Taupo we went (Kat, myself and Alex), managing to avoid any overweight luggage charges through the deft skills of our accompanying Frenchman, who was chatting up every available Air NZ member of staff, male or female, blinding them with charm and sneaking the bags through.
Having got down to Taupo no probs and going through registration, we met up with JC, Dingo, Juan, Ben and Bevan at the carbo party on the Thursday night to begin the process of winding each other up and talking crap (well everyone else did anyway, I was too busy getting my money's worth from the
buffet).
Despite the unusually high level of interest that Dingo was showing in my hairy legs and his desire to see them smooth, I was determined to be the fastest hairy man out there, if not just the only hairy man out there.
We all met up Friday morning for a quick swim/bike/run and I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the lake was to swim in. Beautiful clear water and didn't feel slow at all (comparatively speaking of course). The weather was also looking bright, which wasn't forecasted.
Having checked the bike in, complete with a set of new tires (these feature later in the story!) it was back to the apartment to rest and feed up. None of us seemed too nervous, although the chatter of the last few months of training had suddenly dissapeared and everyone was focussing on what lie
ahead.
So after a good nights sleep and porridge for breakfast, I was floating in the water at the race start, looking back up to the lakeside and the HUGE crowd that had gathered to watch the start. It was easily the most exciting race start I've been in and the atmosphere was electric. The gun went off and I quickly began my process of controlled drowing/arm flapping in an attempt to get to the far end of the course and back again in some sort of respectable time. I got out the water in 1:04, which was a 3 min PB from port last April, and started the long run up to transition, confident I would be on the bike in 1:10 which was my original goal, which I did (despite managing to rack up a longer T1 time than anyone else in the group
- no idea what I was fannying around at!).
Settled onto the bike quickly and started the long climb out of the town - when the inevitable happened and I got that soul crushing feeling that only an unusual rumbling feeling coming from your wheel can give you...yep, try as I might to pretend it hadn't happened again, my back tire has punctured.
I managed to get my brand new tire off quickly and only gave a passing thought to how much that first 10km just cost, and got the old spare tire back on there. The mechanics turned up just then with a track pump and gave me hand, and I was back on the bike in about 5/6 mins I think. I managed to stay calm and stretched out my quads a bit, keeping in mind Johns comments that if I did get a flat, just use it as a chance to have a rest and a stretch.
Back on the bike and determined to catch Alex, who had got out of the water a few mins ahead of me. The roads were bumpy and the wind was in your face for the entire way out, but I knew if I just stayed steady into the wind then I could turn the pace coming home with the tail wind. Same plan for the second and final lap, although the wind had picked up a lot, the rain had started to get heavy and the temperature had dropped, so heading out on the 45km away from town the moral was starting to drop. I hadn't seen any of the others for the whole ride and also hadn't managed to find any groups going at my pace, so I just get plugging on on my own. I finally found Alex at the final turnaround, who was having bad stomach problems but was powering on none the less.
So it was off the bike and on to my favourite part. I had managed to pull back a 5:18 ride, which considering the flat and riding on my own I was happy with. It also gave me the chance to run a 3:10 marathon for a sub 9:40 finish, which I was really after.
Kat was waiting for me at the start of the run and gave me a run down on how far ahead Juan, JC and Dingo were. I started very slowly on the run, hurting a bit from maybe going too hard on the ride. Anyway, I just plodded on for 15km until I could feel a bit of bounce back in my legs, making sure I was eating and drinking as much as I could without getting sick, then I tried to turn it on, determined to run down everyone in front of me.
A few guys hung on the back of me going into the strong wind at the far turnaround and certainly weren't trying to run as a group, which irritated me a bit made me determined to hurt them, so I gradually picked up the pace bit by bit, trying to fool them into going faster than they thought they were until they dropped, which they did. Not very nice of me, but after god knows how many hours out there, I wasn't
prepared to act as a windbreak for people!
Going into the second lap, inhaling caf gels like there was no tomorrow, I needed to run a sub 50min last 12km to nail a 3:10. sounded easy in my head, and then I hit the wind and the hill at the turnaround again, and it all went to pot. Still I powered home, trying to keep my form and pass as many people as possible. I had already gone by Juan and JC but hadn't seen Dingo anywhere, although Kat had said he was 10mins ahead going into the final lap, and it wasn't until I crossed the line that I saw him there, 1 min ahead of me.
I hadn't seen anyone in my age for the last 10km or so, so I though I must be quite high up and still though I had a chance of top 5, but soon found out I had rolled in 9th. Still, I was more than happy with top 10, with a flat, and I'd given everything I had. I would go along to roll down, if only to see what actually went on behind those locked doors...
So, roll down... the old Jim Carey announced, through his crazy bright white teeth, that of the 5 spots available in my age, 2 had been taken. I couldn't believe it...i was positive they would all go. That meant I was still 1 off contention and with 3 aussies ahead of me it seemed impossible that any of them would let this chance go.... as the name of 8th place Andy Myers echoed around the theatre, with no response, my legs went totally to jelly... convincing myself that may be I had made a mistake and wasn't next in line
at all, then Oliver Lamb was announced.
Happy days. still can't quite believe it. Some people came up to me at the after party and said "we know you, you were the happiest guy on the stage!", which pretty much sums up my NZ trip.
So, on to the running season then a cold (but hopefully not lonely - I'll be cheering all you guys at Port!!) build to Kona, smiling all the way . you know me, always smiling in the morning.
Sorry, went on a bit!
Thanks for all your messages and support,
Cheers,
Oli
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