Movin on.........

2 weeks on from NZIM and I'm walking normally again after the crash and have begun planning for the rest of the year. I have been having regular physio with Jonty Garlick from Body Dynamics and we are making progress. There is a few funny things going on in my lower back and hip to the point that Jonty has recommended I have an xray asap as there may be a fracture of some kind in there causing pain that I am still having. Running is still out of the question so the Auckland Half is definitely a no go. I haven't rode yet either but hopefully I will be able to take my new Litespeed road frame (pic above, bike courtesy of "Bike Fixation" chur!!!) out for a test ride this week and start some gentle riding again. My right hip is still tender due to bruising on the bone. I am reminded of it at regular intervals whilst navigating my way through our small home catching it on door frames or dressers and at work on packets of timber or whilst climbing onto the forklift! I am definitely on the mend though and look forward to the xray tomorrow to see what is going on in there.

I have put some good time into thinking about the rest of the year, for now it's a swimming focus through to the "King of the Bays" Ocean swim. This is a good opportunity to have a close look at what I'm doing in the water as I'm determined to be in the front group out of the water next year. After that it's going to be a swim & run focus through the winter to avoid to many long rides in the "minging" Taupo winter! I am keen to do up to 5 Half Ironman races before IMNZ next year. At this stage I'm looking at either the Phillipines 70.3 or the Yepoon Half Ironman in August as a lead up race to the World Long Distance Champs in Perth in October. One month before these races is the Malaysia 70.3 which could also be an option but will depend on funds and work commitments. Following the World Long Course it will be back to NZ for the summer with the main goal being defending my Mt Half title! Then roll on again to IMNZ if all is going well.

It will be another exciting year with the focus on more racing and getting my swim and run up to my riding level in order to become a more balanced triathlete. I was happy with my running development over the last 12 months so am keen to continue this improvement. I'm pleased to be back in a positive frame of mind and an enjoying the extra swim miles I'm doing with Mitch Nairn (local national age group swimmer). The pic to the right is of Mitch, Shayne Nairn, Me, Mum and Richard (dark horse) Stringfellow at the 2.8km Sand to Surf Ocean Swim yesterday. It was a great event, Mitch was top 10, Mum did her longest ever swim, very gutsy in unsettled and sometimes rough conditions! Koro and Shayne banged out good times and I cruised around feeling OK and happy to have no back issues. A great day out and good to be toeing the start line again!

Cheers

Dunc.

another pic....

Hi again, I just had a pic through from Steve from Sportzhub.com that he took just after I had my spill. Nice pic, he is forwarding through a video of the whole incident as he got it all on camera! Once I have it I will post it here for everyone to have a laugh at:(

Bods still very sore, the lower back area is loosening with the anti inflammatorys but no change to the bruising around the knee and hip. I'm pretty dark on IM at the mo, my head is saying lets change focus to do more 1/2s and shorter racing. If s*%t happens as it did on Saturday, at least I can do another heap of major races within the season. 1/2s are where I have had my best results and there are so many to choose from it can make the year quite exciting to plan, we shall see. Anyway, back to the real world this morning and off to work @ Tenon!

Cheers

Dunc.

IMNZ 09

The past 12 months has been filled with a diverse mixture of highs and lows. The highs of the birth of Alex, the Auckland Half title, PB at NZIM 08, the lows of my long walk at IM Canada and the Taupo Half seat post debacle. Then to top if off, following on from the lofty heights of winning the Tauranga Half, I was smacked back down to earth y'day with an insignificant crash at the turnaround on the first lap of the bike ruining my chances of a PB & top 5 position. It had been drizzling all morning and the roads were quite slick but nothing that caused great concern and as I approached the turning cone, at a sensible speed and gentle angle both wheels went out from under me and I hit the deck with a thud. I didn't even feel it coming, no fish tailing or sliding, one moment I was on my bike, next moment I'm lying on the ground. As you do in those embarrassing moments when you do something stupid in front of a large crowd of people I bounced back up and got back onto the bike and off I went again, my knee was aching and hip throbbing but I've had far worse crashes in my time and expected for it to subside to nothing.

I continued to ride well holding the same time to the front group that contained Cam Brown, Dirk Bockel, Terrenzo Bozzone, Stephen Bayliss and Jan Raphael. At the halfway point I was the same time down on them as I was out of the water, holding my own and feeling good. My nutrition was excellent and apart from the sore hip all was looking good. I moved into 6th not long after passing one of the American guys who had been dropped from the front group and rolled on out to Reporoa. During this leg I began to get quite sore in what I thought was my lower back on the opposite side to what hit the ground. This continued to stiffen and occasionally pinch on the last leg. My watts started to suffer a little with the pain but not enough to think my day was over. Back into town and I felt good, not too fatigued and ready to get the running legs going. As soon as I got off the bike the S*!T hit the fan. My lower bag was pinching, a real "nervy" pain and my right hip did not like the jarring of each step so I limped into the tent wondering what to do. The medics gave me some paracetamol which did nothing, I hobbled over the bridge to the other side of the road and limped off through the screaming crowd. It was a bad look, I looked like a 98 year old with chronic arthritis. I tried to jog it out but it was too much and I couldn't comprehend running a marathon with what was going on. I had many words of encouragement and words of wisdom and after 2km pulled the pin. Gutting, I had worked harder for this race than any other and have had more help from people in the lead up to this than ever before. The sacrifices made in time and finances have been huge, a split second destroyed all that work and I'm left with some impressive bruising and a possible 8 week lay off/recovery from a tear in my Sacro-illial joint (top of the pelvis). That was what all the pinching was in my lower back, not nice and tricky to get right according to the race Doc.

So that is that, an unhappy ending for me:( Aside from my day it was a brilliant race with Brown smashing everyone again and my Luembourgan training partner laying his lads on the line to go off the front on the bike and make the race interesting (finishing 3rd). Mates Westy (11th) and Mackay (12th) had great days so big ups to them. I will pay homage to them all tonight at the awards and drown my sorrows somewhat.

Thanks to all the people which have made a difference in getting me to where I was pre race. You are all special people and I am forever in your debt! It's definitely not a good time to make any plans yet for the immediate future but I can assure you I will be back to move on to the next challenge.

Oh, the pics show the bruising and swelling to my right hip compared to the normal sized left, not a bad effort for going 10kph at the time!

Cheers

Dunc.

Bring it on!!!

2 days to go, bring it on. Taper week is going well and Im feeling better and better each day. I have felt fresher as each day passes and have to be a little carefull on the final easy sessions not to go too fast as your body wants to go! Less is definately more now, I try not to be too sedintary and lounge around too much as I can start to feel very lethargic and run the risk of the "core" muscles going to sleep!

Ive started my Carbo loading regime, pretty basic really, small meals higher in carbs than normal and I also use the Leppin Carb Loader to top up my levels. I had my final massage today and will do regular stretching through to the day to keep limber and get as much Oxygen to the muscles as possible. The main focus now is on the head though, its the most important part of the last week as it is easy to get distracted with all the hype and cool gears flying around the place. All people new to the sport should remember Mark Watsons quote from one of my earlier blogs, "all the gears and no ideas!". Its a good time to think back to the training you have done and the positive results you have had in the past. Believe in yourself and get excited about showing yourself and everyone else there on the day just how fit you have become!

Ive included a few pics of my race weapon for you to see, details are...

Frame; Quintana Roo Lucero Titanium

Saddle; ISM Adamo Racing

Componentry; Durace/Sram mix

Cranks; SRM Power meter

Wheels; Corima Disc and Deep Rim Front

Handlebars; Profile

Pedals; Speedplay Zeros

Thats all from me, see you out there!

Cheers

Dunc.