The last month has been a very hectic one! Lots of long hours in the pool, on the bike and on the road coupled with a number of training races just to add to the mix.
The triathlon season has now started in Wellington with the Scorching triathlon series and the Splash and Dash series.
Although my training focus has been on endurance i.e 12 hours plus, the support crew along with friends and colleagues from work decided to have a bit of festive fun by entering one of the Scorching team olymipic distance events. The weather wasn't the best with cloud, rain and a lot of gusty wind. Those who were swimming had the easiest day with the sea swim protected from the wind….unlike the runners and cyclists who had to battle head winds. Some were even struggling to keep a straight line! I didn't want to mention it on the day, but with a swim time of 27 minutes I did the least amount of exercise across compared to the others. Overall, it was a great day for our three teams who produced some impressive results.
Theresa joined in the fun by doing the 10km run leg but hadn't had the luxury of preparing. Like a like the others, all have now set their targets on new horizons with a half marathon and another scorching bay triathlon, and netball in the next couple of months.
The Rotorua half ironman (2k swim, 90km bike and half marathon) was a good test as a preparation race. A challenging bike course that starts with a big hill as soon as you come out of the swim , so no time to get comfortable, followed by a series of big hills just to build enough fatigues in your legs ready for the run around the Blue Lake. It was a fantastic day, the lake was very warm and still with a beautiful sunrise followed by blues skies and light winds. While I struggle with the heat it was a good test in preparation for Challenge Wanaka. The result was good, 10 minutes faster than the Karipiro Half Ironman last month and 40 minutes faster than my Auckland Half Ironman in March 2012 so it is good to see that all the hard work seems to be paying off.
In terms of the hard work, here are some statistics in the build up for Challenge Wanaka over the last 8 months:
- In the pool or open water: 100 hours+
- On the bike: 240 hours
- Running on the road or trails: 120 hours
- Alcohol consumption: is about 10 glasses of wine or beer....mostly consumed over the last 2 weeks of the festive period. :)
- Mental preparation: 24/7….this included avoiding the mince pies especially when others have been applying peer pressure.
- Fundraising: The $1000 mark has been achieved which is great news.
- I am hoping for a last minute Christmas support so please check out the links to my Make-a-Wish donation page!!!
So now I am in the "tapering" phase which means less hours and less intensity so my body can recover from any fatigue and build up my strength ready for the race. This is good news as I have about 3 slight niggling injuries that hopefully will subside before the big day. All the articles I have read around the tapering phase follows the same thread….first timers have the anxiety of "have I done enough" and as a result try to squeeze in to much training at the final stages. While the experienced Ironmen are more relaxed and run the risk of taking it too easy. I will stick to my training programme and maybe do one extra session ;o)
This is the last of the monthly updates as I start the journey down to Wanaka. I will provide smaller, in frequent updates on the blog in addition to twitter too @IanRich
Let's just hope I have done enough and thank you everyone for your support !!!
Supports Crew's View
So the big day is nearing...Ian's stats amazed me! I did my support bit by running 10k in the most horrendous wind. Nearly killed me! Am sure we will be posting to let you know how the big event goes. Good luck Ian xxx
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