Taupo half Ironman, Dec 2007
Hey,
It is the morning two days after the Taupo Half Ironman and my legs are aching as I sit here preparing to update you on the last month.
As you may be aware I have had an injured knee, and the extent of my running for the last 2.5 months has been up around 10mins, 3 x a week....next to nothing in other words!!
…but on the 19th November I went to visit Andrew Jones a podiatrist. He put a little orthotic in my shoe and I had three weeks to build up for a half marathon. I did tell him I would only try to run for 1 hour and then walk the rest of the half. I was well aware that my body wasn’t conditioned for 21kms!
Unfortunately as so often happens at events the mind tells the body to just keep going….so I did. I swam, biked and ran all the way to the finish, completing my first ever Half Ironman (and my longest ever run). I was most excited to get through the run without a sore knee. Unfortunately I can’t say the same about the rest of my muscles in my body…especially my legs….they were screaming half way through the run and they are still screaming NOW.
I do have to say it was an interesting event in that I found it quite lonely. For the past 9 years I have been racing a bike and the peloton has always been there. When racing overseas you are part of a team, a group of girls that work together for a common goal. You talk, plan, strategise, and discuss tactics before, during and after the race, but in the Half I had no one to chat to. I do have to say it is very hard to talk in the water but on the bike you aren’t allowed to draft so unless you are going past someone, or they are going past you, it’s just you and only you….and on the run….absolutely no one was running as slow as me so I was having to talk to myself and the people at the aid stations as I stopped for a drink…who were very nice!
So all in all an interesting situation…Did I enjoy it?.....to be honest I think I did….because it is really about how hard you can push yourself. I don’t really care where I finished but I do believe I can go faster, especially now that I can get out there and get a few runs under my belt. I am looking forward to that.
Next on the agenda is the New Zealand Cycling Road Nationals in January. A slight change of focus for the next month but with the Ironman in March as my priority the Nationals will play second fiddle and are just for FUN!
Editors note: Meshy finished in 3rd place overall, recording the fastest women’s bike spilt…riding 2m 29secs faster than the editor...
