The opportunity
I was meant to be racing Auckland 70.3 this weekend - with the idea of giving myself an extra shot at Hawaii qualification. It is a half, but as with Mandurah 70.3, there have been 25 Hawaii slots allocated to it. I wanted to write this blog now, BEFORE the race, because it will be interesting to see on Sunday what it would have taken to get the slot, but I don't want to overshadow any of those qualifying by saying "what if I had been there".The big picture
The fact is - I don't think I would qualify at this stage. Not outright anyway. I took stock of things after Mandurah, talked to Sean, and decided that I really didn't have my "peak form" run legs in me at Mandurah. In fact, looking back at some of my training records, I really peaked around July-August, and then plateaued. I really just don't think I was getting enough running kms in.
So fairly quickly, I decided that my main priority needed to be in the best IRONMAN shape (not 70.3) I could be in by South Africa in April. I am a runner, but I'll have a much better shot of running the bikers down in a marathon, rather than a half. Sean and I discussed me doing some blocks of "run emphasis" or "bike emphasis", with easy long hours for the other discipline, so I could really train the discipline I was emphasizing properly.
A bit of a setback
I scheduled sinus surgery (an ongoing problem that needed to be addressed) the week after Mandurah. I expected a couple of weeks recovery, then planned to hit my straps with the ironman training. Unfortunately a post - op infection made me really sick, and I couldn't even work on my thesis properly, let alone train!! But my wonderful doctor Karen Holzer came to the rescue as usual, put me on some Moxifloxacin (at $18 a day, they HAD to be good!) and I was back on track. 18 weeks to the race.
A Bright start over Christmas
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| An amazing group to spend Christmas with |
After a solid first 2 weeks of proper training, we headed up to Bright (in the mountains) for Christmas. But really it was to train! Pete and I like to spend a week up there every year, often at the end of January, riding all the mountains, running and having a dip in the mountain water. This year was pretty special, as we arranged to go up with a "few" of the MTC/ fluid athletes, but close to the time, the numbers increased substantially, and we ended up with 10 Melbourne - based triathletes from all over the world, hanging out, riding and eating lots of food (which I had loads of fun preparing!)
Recovery and consolidation
We ended up training 25 hours Xmas week, and rode over 500lm. Obviously the next week was recovery, but I think going into that huge week with so little base behind me, took its toll. I've had some huge positives the past 2 weeks; like a 4 min PB for 3.8km in the open water, and some really good improvement in my running, but I've had days (like yesterday on the bike), where things have gone really badly, and my legs just won't work.
BUT I have more energy in myself than even before IM France or Hawaii. I feel positive (when I'm not pissed off with my legs!!) and I've had real moments in my running where the "old Jo" feels like she's back. Especially off the bike, which after all is what it's about!! The best thing is, Pete is absolutely ON FIRE at the moment, so we can now do a lot of our running together.
Letting it go
So whatever happens in Auckland on Sunday, I won't care. Of course I'll look! (If you're interested I would have been racing F40-44 there). Auckland is a relatively slow course - last year my AG was won in 4.58. My PB is 4.48, so on my day, I'd back myself. But in the form I'm in, I don't think I'd have been capable of the win. Also, it would have meant a taper week, plus recovery week, meaning a big disruption to all the work I am currently doing to lay the foundations for South Africa. I have been racing for 6 years. I am a racer, and will give it my all in 80 days. But for now, training vs racing is what I need.
What's ahead
I'm on a bike emphasis phase to the end of this week, but we are doing a carb-tolerance test on Sunday (to trial our nutrition) which will involve a 2hr "race pace" run. I don't intend to back off the mileage on Saturday's ride; I need the kms in the legs too much. But it will be good to see what I can do on that run on Sunday.
Next weekend we have the 4-day Ironman camp, which will be huge, and will give us some practice in proper ocean swell (the swell in South Africa can be up to 2m). My goals for the camp are to get through the full 180km ride well, and swim as much as possible.
Following that, I am considering entering the Warburton half marathon, which is on Feb 23rd (6 weeks from the race). I probably wouldn't do a big taper for it, but it would be good to dial in that "last half of the ironman run" feeling!
I'm feeling really good about things. I have my moments where I wonder if I will ever be the athlete I was. I also wonder if even my best will be good enough in South Africa (the F40-44 winner did 10.25 last year). I won't know the answer to those questions for another 11 weeks. But I'm doing everything I can to make the answer "yes and yes".
