Port of Tauranga Half jan 7th 2012

I had been training for this race for what seems an age but when it came round i knew i had put the work in and was ready to see what i could do. I really wanted a PB (in every discipline) and would love a sub 6 but thought that my biking would let me down.

The weather up north has been atrocious with all the good weather down here in the south island (great for training) so i wasnt' sure what we would get race day- wind, rain, chop....the few days before were a mixture of sunshine, rain and some winds at night but nothing too horrendous during the day. I had overcome my fear of the weather as its one thing you can't control and we waste too much energy worrying about it so i thought what will be will be.

Pre race dinner consisted of the usual potatoes, brocolli, tuna and olive oil which seems to sit nicely in my tum and does't' give me any bloatedness. We stayed in a rather hot motel the night before but i managed to get some sleep and then we were up at 4.30 am for porridge then off to transition at 5am.

I tend to get out there as soon as i can as there's too much chatter about times, and gear for my liking :)

Had half a banana about 6am and we had to be in the water by 6.20. I was supposed to do a 30 min run warm up prior to water but my shin splints had flared up a bit so just got in the water for a warm up. Lots of chatting about route and sighting which was really helpful as i knew it would be carnage. This is the first swim race with more than about 300 people in it so i thought it would be crazy. (and it was)


Swim: 40.10 (first 700 metres 13 mins)
The swim was crazy all the way round. As it was two laps and you had to get out and back in again I wasnt sure what to expect but it went quicker than i thought it would. Lots of slow men to climb over and i could never manage to get on anyones feet as there were so many of them! Sighting was good though which ive practiced with and the bouys here are massive which is really helpful.

into T1 and out of there 2.24

Bike 3.19
The weather was looking rather cloudy but still warm and so i left the arm warmers off and set off. A little wind on the way out and a slight tail wind on the way back in. As this is a 2 lap course i felt the wind pick up on the way back in and knew we were in for a headwind on the way back out of lap 2. The course is flat (by wanaka standards) and so i hoped to keep my speedo above 30k's for most of the ride. Unfortunately the 2nd lap had us battling into a headwind on the way out and with dismay i saw my speedo drop to 19k's at one point!! More work needed on the bike. Its my downfall- headwind arrive and i get annoyed and dont feel as thought i can push hard. I get scared of blowing up and thus lose time. My first lap was just under 1.35 so i felt really pleased that the work is paying off but back to the drawing board! Must HTFU!
Had slight tummy pain towards the end of the bike and had stuck to my gel, gel, muesli bar every 30 mins

T2 1.35 ( i was 58th quickest in T2 how proud my mother would be- i can strip fast!) :)

Run 2.07
As soon as i got off the bike I felt the triathlon shuffle come into effect. Just moving forward seemed an effort and my knee was slightly painful. The day after I had sore quads which told me straight away there was not enough use of glutes on the bike. Too much pushing through the legs which is something good to work on for next time. I wanted to also see how my tummy was doing so held off taking anything in at first. I am proud to say i ran the entire course apart from walking through aid stations to drink water and COKE. Oh coke how i love thee :) The run is a long slog out of town, where all you can see is a long line of runners and quite mentally draining. Then onto the Mnt track which is lovely and slighlty undulating. I though it would be hillier than it was as i'd heard reports but obviously hills round there are not like hills round here!! 
I really tried to open up my hips as they were really sore but any effort was too hard and so i pulled back and concentrated on fast cadence which seemed to work for me. I can say i was consistent the whole way round and stuck to the same pace until the finish shoot.
I should have had something to eat at some point as i started to sway and my vision went a bit weird! Thus probably why i look so happy in this pic- im not sure i knew where i was ha ha :)

Finally the shoot came into view and the finish line. So happy with a 6.10 finish. A 45 minute PB for me over the same distance. Happy Happy.

Thoughts:
I definately need to do more biking and running but im so pleased with my improvements. Keep at it!
I had the thoughts throughout the run that im so not ready for Ironman yet. I really want to do more half's first and get some speed in my legs. Although many friends have said ironman is not about speed but about consistency and not pushing hard so maybe 2014.....

Thoroughly recommend this race and would do it again next year :)