IRONMAN 70.3

TIMBERMAN

There   seems   to   be   one   trip   a   year   that   turns   out   to   be   a  nightmare  and  this  weekend  was  it.  I  travelled  across  country  to  race  Ironman  70.3  Timberman  set  in  the  beautiful  Lake  Winnipesaukee  in  New  Hampshire  which  is  supposed  to  be  a  1h  40  drive  from  Boston  airport.  Well  I  landed  in  Boston  at  1.30pm  on  Friday  and  hit  the  road  with  fellow  Kiwi  Dylan  McNeice  along  with  the  whole  of  the  east  coast  who  seemed  to  head  up  that  way  for  the  weekend.    So   the   fairly   short   car   ride   up   north   turned   into   a   3.5h   mission.   As   soon   as   we   got   there   I   put  together  my  Cannondale  slice  which  does  not  take  long  these  days  and  I  was  out  on  the  road  for  a  little  spin.  Considering  I’d  just  had  a  solid  10h  travel  day  I  felt  pretty  good  and  was  in  slightly  better  position   than   Dylan   whose   wheels   had   not   shown   up   yet   and   had   travelled   from   NZ.   Next   little  hurdle  was   to   Qind  dinner….easy   right,  wrong.   It  was  now  8pm  and  a   lot   of   these   races   are   set   in  quite  remote  places  so  Qinding  a  place  can  be  tricky.  We  did  Qind  a  place  that  was  recommended,  but  low  and  be  hold  it  was  over  an  hour  wait  to  get  served  so  we  thought  we  could  Qind  somewhere  else.  After  driving  around  for  about  half  an  hour  and  passing  a  couple  fast  food  chains  we  gave  in  and  got  subway  and  went  to  sleep.    

Saturday  rolled  around  and  things  didn’t  get  too  much  easier.  We  had  brought  groceries  but  had  no  where  to  cook.  We  tried  microwaving  an  egg  but  that  didn’t  go  down  to  well  and  had  a  drip  coffee  machine  but  only  whole  beans.  So  after  a  time  of  trying  to  make  do  with  what  we  had  we  succumbed  to   giving   the   local   pancake   dinner   a   go   and   ordered   eggs   benedict…..no   comment   on   that.   Skip  forward   to  an   inconvenient  race  brieQing   time  of  11.30am  and  google  maps  sending  us   the  wrong  way  and  there  we  are  walking  into  race  brieQing  as  they  are  describing  the  last  section  on  the  run  (so  we  missed  it),  throw  in  there  some  insane  lines  just  to  get  our  timing  chip  and  register  and  we  might  have  been  out  of  there  close  to  1pm  to  head  down  to  the  lake  for  a  swim.  This  was  the  best  part  of  the  day  as  the  lake  was  beautiful.  Finding  lunch  and  dinner  that  day  another  side  story.    The  race:  Beautiful  clear  lake  swim  in  a  large  square  with  no  wetsuit  and  at  least  3  supper  swimmers  (Dylan,  Andy  Potts,  and  Cam  Dye)  was  always  going  to  be  tough,  but   I  backed  myself   to  be  close.  The  gun  went  off  and   the   fast  guys  hit   it  hard,   I   think  unfortunately   for  me   they  all   spread   themselves  out  along  the  start  with  Dylan  on  the  far  left.  About  200m  in  when  the  group  I  was  with  (Tim  O’Donnell,  Cam  Dye)  saw  that  Dylan  had  a  good  gap  they  darted  to  the  left.  It  was  my  mistake  to  not

go  with   them  as   I   could  not  understand  what   they  were  doing   and   Qigured   I’d   stick   to   the  straightest  line,  bad  move.  They  more  or  less  came  together  and  I  was  stuck  in  no  mans  land.  As  the  swim  came  to  the  end  I  caught  the  few  guys  that  had  slowly  been  shelled  by  the  fast  swimmers.   This   included   Paul   Mathews,   Leon   GrifQin,   Braden   Currie   and   a   couple   others.  Onto  the  bike  and  Leon  and  Paul  were  going  for  it  and  this  is  where  I  knew  things  were  not  so  good,  I  was  trying  my  hardest  and  losing  ground  quickly  to  them.  This  sort  of  race  feeling  has  not  happened  to  me  before,  the  perceived  excretion  was  through  the  roof  but  the  power  was   low  and  the  heart  rate  was  terrible,   frequently  dropping   into  the  130’s  and  I  normally  race  in  the  mid  150’s.  I  kept  trying  as  I  could  not  bring  myself  to  pull  out  but  it  soon  turned  into  an  expensive  training  day.  I  knew  my  body  was  not  Qiring  for  whatever  reason  so  I  just  focused  on  dealing  with  what  I  have  to  deal  with  and  using  it  as  good  mental  training  for  the  day  I  step  up  to  Ironman…    

Off  the  bike  I  have  no  idea  what  position  I  was  in  but  I  was  with  Richie  Cunningham  and  saw  Paul  Mathews  run  out  as  we  came  in  so  I  thought  it  might  not  be  too  bad.  Again  off  the  bike  the   legs   just   felt  hollow,   luckily  Dylan  had  brought  me  over  some  Horleys  gels  so  I  cranked  one  of  them  and  just  settled  in  for  a  steady  run.  It  was  Sunday  so  It’s  long  run  day  anyway  so  that’s  what   I  did,   I   got   to  watch   the   race  unfold  while  out   there.  The  guys  up   front  were  a  class   above.   Great   to   see   Cam   Dye   with   a   lead   off   and   Potts   and   O’Donnell   running   like  scorched   cats   to   catch  him.   Potts   ended  up  winning  with  O’Donnell   and  Dye  2nd   and  3rd.   I  Qinished  12th  in  what  was  my  slowest  half  ironman  time  in  over  many  years.  I  had  plenty  of  time  out  there  to  get  over   it  and  come  to  the  realisation  that  these  type  of  days  do  happen  and  as  long  as  I  can  learn  from  it  and  understand  why  it  wont  be  a  total  waste.  I  have  now  done  11  half   Ironman  events   in   the   last  8  months  and   this   is   the   Qirst  one  out  of   the  prize  money.    

Roll  on  Sunday,  what  else  can  happen.  Well  it  turns  out  a  lot.  After  the  2hour  drive  back  into  the  city  we  googled  “best  Qlat  white  in  Boston”,  found  the  location  parked  up  and  got  a  coffee  (which  was  ok,  but  not  great).  We  went  for  a  short  walk  around  the  city  which  looked  very  nice  and  then  rushed  back  to  the  car  before  out  ticket  expired.  We  got  lost  on  the  way  back  and  was  5-­‐10mins  late  but  that  didn’t  matter  as  when  we  got  there  the  car  was  GONE.  Filled  to  the  rim  with  all  our  possessions  (bikes,  laptops,  cash,  passports  etc),  I  nearly  cried.  With  less  than  3hours  till  I  Qly  our  car  is  gone  with  no  indication  why.  We  frantically  ask  the  shops  around  and  no  one  saw  anything.  Rang  the  tow  companies  and  they  were  all  very  unhelpful  and  even  rang  the  police  (not  the  911  just  the  non  serious  line).  Well  the  police  man  on  the  other  line  asked  me  what  was  wrong  I  preceded  to  explain  and  he  hung  up!!  I  rang  back  and  asked  why  he  did  that  and  he  said  “sir  you  were  talking  to  fast  and  I  could  not  understand  you”  this  literally  blew  my  mind.  A  police  man  hanging  up  on  someone  in  need  because  they  were  in  a  panic  and  foreign.  Luckily,  Qinally  we  asked  a  lady  who  had  parked  in  front  of  us  and  was   returning   to   her   car     she   explained   it   was   probably   towed   because   there   was   a   Qire  hydrant  on  the  side  walk  near  were  we  parked  (even  though  we  parked  under  the  parking  sign).  She  said  “IF  its  been  towed”  it  will  be  at  X.  So  still  with  out  even  conQirming  where  it  was   and  now   less   than  2hours   till   I   Qly  we  had   to  kind  of  hope   it  was   at   the   tow  yard   she  suggest  and  got  a  taxi   there.  Finally  after  a  mad  rush  across  town  we  Qind  that  the  car  was  towed   there   for  a  parking   infringement  and   it   cost  $193   to  get   it   released.  What  a   relief   it  was!   Finally   driving   again   and   a   bit   stressed   I   put   into   Google   maps   “national   Car   rental  return”   and   started   driving,   10mins   later   and   almost   there  we   realise   its   taking   us   to   the  down  town  branch  not   the  airport  one.  With  some  great  driving   from  Dylan  we  had  to  get  across   town  AGAIN  and  he   Qinally  dropped  me  off   at   the   terminal   (he  had   a   later   Qlight   so  could  sort  the  car  out).  With  1h  to  Qly  I  check  in…..its  not  over  yet.  I  get  randomly  selected  for  the  super  intensive  security  screening  when  I  pass  through  TSA.  I  present  my  passport  and  boarding  pass  to  the  ofQicer  and  he  says  “we’ve  been  waiting  for  you”.  

Now  I  think  he  was  joking  but  at  that  point  I  was  not  sure.  This  screening  included  a  thorough  pat  down,  swabbing  and  searching  of  all  carry  on,  and  requiring  me  to  turn  on  all  electronics  (Iphone,  Ipad  and  Mac)  to  prove  they  were  what  they  appeared  to  be.  Finally  I  could  get  the  all  clear  and  go  to  my  gate  with  about  20mins  to  spare.  I’m  not  sure  if  I  have  ever  been  so  stressed  and  I  am  now  sitting  on  the  plane  hoping  nothing  more  can  go  wrong.  Only  to  hear  there  are  thunderstorms  over  Denver  so  they  are  re  routing  us.  I  just  want  to  get  home.    

I  hope  there  is  a  silver  lining  to  this  trip.  

Until  next  time,  Regards,  Mark