Challenge Wanaka 2010... Pher...yewf!

Flag Bearing to the finish :-)...


Bigging up the crowds with 21K to go... Coming atch ya!

Yes it's that moment you've all been waiting for... The Challenge Wanaka Race Report! :-)
What a Tough, Bad Ass but Beeeeeautiful Mother Bitch of a day it was... Listen up!

All started pretty cool and calm... Haferflocken and Kaffee for brekky and I was ready to roll... nice seeing all my buddies racking their bikes, you get the odd anal type who can not focus away from how many gels to stick to their top tube but generally there's lots of 'big loving' and 'all the besting' going around as we know we're all in it together and we're all going to feel the shit out there :-).

Thanks to Rach for being my Wetsuit Bitch as of course I was a bit late getting to the start and it was useful to have her there to throw things at. Water was cold but I had my Blue 70 booties on which although they do look a bit 'gay'... some may say 'well gay' they do keep you warmer :-). So off I set on my merry 3.8K way.
It was cool man... I couldn't quite believe it... for the first time in a Triathlon I managed to stay with the main / chase pack?!!?!? WTF??? Swimming along thinking ah... look there's Bex Keat... there's Jodie... Pete Vab... Lisbeth... Mark Pschebizin... where the freaks Ce???? We all formed a nice pack... Mark had a nice black eye to prove it with a well placed punch from one of the girls... not mentioning any names... them beeeeatches man??? :-)... I clung onto the back of it for dear life. I even lost it at one stage as I went too wide around a buoy but with my Uber swim powers managed to 'sprint' back onto someones feet... hmmm may be that was a bit much though as at about the 2.5K mark I lost them... I think I just lost focus but they started pulling away from me and before I realised a gap had opened up and I could see the group just getting further away... darn it!!?!? :-(
Still I got out in 58:42 which was good as most of my fellow pro's did about a 57 so I wasn't the normal 10 minutes behind :-)





Pro Girlies... as you can see Lisbeth is accessing the upper centres of her brain here.


Off I set onto the bike... feeling good as I was passing people eeeeeeeasily ha! OK most of them were chix... Caught Bex at the 10K mark (sweet in Roth I didn't catch her until the 80K mark) "Keep up I said... I'll pull you up to Gina!" ;-). I caught Gina at the 40K mark (sweeter still as in Taupo last year I didn't get her until about the 100K mark).
At 100K I caught Marcy P (the guy who I ran the whole of IMNZ09 marathon with and he beat me by 5 secs?!?!?!?) I was hoping we could work together as I could've done with some help... he was going pretty slowly though so I thought to heck with it... he's a good runner... but so am I... I'll build up a good buffer on the bike and he'll never catch me :-)... so off I went moving into 6th place.
This was the tough time though... I knew that Usher, Keegan, Pete etc were up the road... all great bikers... and likely to be working together... even when legally drafting you can ride at a HR 10 beats less so you can go faster on the bike and more importantly have a lot more left for the run... I had no real choice though than to keep heading up the lonely road just me and the music and voices in my head :-)
Apart from the usual Joy Division, Napalm Death and Kate Bush (ah my English Rose :-) ) I couldn't stop singing 'Feed The World' by Michael Jackson!?!?!?

"Feed the World... make it a better place... for you and for me and the ENTIRE Human Race... cus there's people dying..."

WTF?!?!? Over and over again.... God dam you Jackson haunting me from the grave :-)
I did have some company... Andy Black... (the guy from the Christchurch Tri I did at Xmas who was asking me about my Wanaka training). I passed him at the 50K mark and I pulled him along until about the 130K mark where he finally blew... hmm I was starting to get a little annoyed at one point even though he was keeping it mainly legal, I was hoping he might do at least one turn at the front, he redeemed himself though at an aid station... I dropped a bottle... and was 'bottle less... in a bottle filled World' :-(... Andy sprinted up to me like a domestique and gave me one of his... Cheers Bro :-).
He thanked me later saying that he was able to go a lot faster for the same effort riding behind me... see kids... Ironman IS a draft legal sport at the end of the day.

Pro Boyz.

Nothing much else to report on the bike... did one wee... this is the most entertaining part of the bike... when else do you get to wet yourself... in public... on your bike as well... I have to stop my self laughing though... "Agh... it's going down my leg??? It's splashing on my bike... it's in my shoes... err it's really warm and smells a bit :-)... it always gives me a sick sense of glee to think that the masseuse will be massaging that into my legs later on...

So off the bike... still in 6th place :-) 05:05:04 Bike Split.

Transition was a bit lonely... in my delirious state I wasn't sure where to go and did a bit of random wandering round the transition tents... until I persuaded some teenage girls (the only visible marshals??) to stop texting and tell me where I was supposed to go???

The Katzer... Meine Kleine Schnitzel on the podium... :-) and Mands from Avanti on the top... go girls!



Onto the run... legs felt good but breathing was too laboured meaning my HR was too high... :-( meaning I had pushed it just a little too hard on the bike probably on the hills.
Managed to get my fluids in though plus gels :-)... felt my stomach 'gurgle' at one stage... and the 'bomb bay' loading up with a few 'bombs' :-(... managed to keep the bomb bay doors closed though... phewf! Especially as I had a one piece on :-). A one piece with the legs pulled up in true Euro / Aussie footy rules style... those leg grippers man... my quads are just too huge and hips too small... and they feel restricted... ;-) May have to go Speedo next time :-)

Had a good first lap though the course doesn't suit me I'd much rather be running on the road... if you run with good technique you absorb the shock of any surface but running over sand and stones just does my head in... and whats with the freakin hills!!! Ooo the pain of trying to drink Coke when running down hill?!?!
I saw Brian in 5th place at the turn around... jeez lets see if he blows I may catch him :-) but saw Marcy P catching me up... dam it!?!? I began to blow on the second lap myself though and Marc passed me at 25K... I was just in survival mode then so I had nothing to respond with... he was running well... bugger! In the end I did a 03:09 run... good considering the course and my 'Lone Wolf' on the bike.
The finish came :-) and I fell into the arms of Event Director Vic... as always I was fairly delirious... just kept on telling her what a great race it was and what do I do now... she had to escort me to the recovery tent... Thanks Vic..! I'm sure she had better things to be doing :-)

WINNERS!!!! Well... one of us anyway.



So a good day 7th in the end, a slow time 09:17 but bloody tough course... probably the best performance I have had in an Iron Distance event... and I'll get Marc one day... see you back in Germany :-)!

Some great performances from my coachees... Katzer placed 3rd in her age group despite having back problems she did awesome battling through the pain... Sars P 3rd in the Half Distance and Graham Harris in only his 2nd ever Triathlon finished 4th in his age group... he's only been doing triathlon for about 9 months yet he did a 05:22 bike split... and he's a 'runner'!?!?

So some down time now... time to make a few more plans...



Ce... WTF...? Don't you know you can't drive...??? Get the freak out my car man!... Ce showing signs of 'Post IM delirium...'

OK... who's going to drink another shot??? Feelix??!!! It never ceases to amaze me... the ability of the human body... 3am in the morning post IM day... and still going... and still drinking... though I have to say... I'm still recovering and have virtually done nothing but sleep ALL this week...

Always time to hang in Cafes... Hanging is good :-)...

Thanks to all my fellow competitors, Vic, Felix and the Challenge Wanaka Crew... and all my lovely friends and family... those here in Wanaka and also those throughout the rest of the World... I really do appreciate your thoughts...

Ahhhh... and Cheeeeeeeelax :-)

Westy xxx

Now Ce reckons she looks like the Silver Surfer...

What do you think???
I think she looks more like Hobgoblin... am I wrong???... Never... ;-) Same glasses... funky boots... and smile ;-)....