Step one, enter IMNZ

Big news this month with Saucony and Smith's Sport Shoes; both confirmed new shoe and apparel sponsors. Very exciting, especially after just receiving a new box of kit to head out the door in! A big thanks to Chris and Mike for all their help and belief. I am really looking forward to working with both teams going forward:)

IMNZ 2011, it's on, I'm committing and am pretty excited about getting back on the start line in March. IMNZ 2010 was the first one I have missed since 2003, during the race I wasn't at all upset about not racing and really enjoyed being out there cheering on all the people I knew that were racing. It was great to see the other side of the day, damn exhausting and full credit to those who help out and support the race every year. I was blown away by the crowd at the start. It was massive, I had no idea it was 3 deep all the way down to the "hole in one" pontoon.
When I woke up Sunday morning I was gutted, more like jealous of all those who completed it the day before. A totally different emotion than expected and I knew then I had unfinished business.

Since then I have been working hard on my swimming technique and riding 5-6 times per week. I have been having some reoccurring issues with my knee that I injured pre Mt Half so am seeing Dr. Matt Brick early next week to try to get to the bottom of the problem. The running I had been doing felt great but I could feel the injury creeping in, so have only been doing light running. It will be great to see a specialist and develop a new plan forward with it.

I lined up in the Tour of Taranaki, a 5 stage cycle race held in rural Taranaki. I raced B-Grade as I hadn't been in a cycle race since K2 2008, lining up in A-Grade would have been a mistake as B-Grade was hard enough! Totally different to what I'm used to with the massive swings in power output and tactical riding. I became stronger as the Tour went, only losing time on the leaders in Stage 3. Stage 5 was my best, breaking away several times to try to get away and make up the time lost earlier on the leaders. It wasn't to be, but a fantastic experience and great training to improve my power and strength for this summer's Tri-Season. I was really happy with how my titanium Litespeed handled and performed. With race wheels on there cannot be many lighter bikes out there, a great bike to ride so a big thanks to David and the team at Bike Fixation for the continuing support. I'm hoping to return next year, this time lining up in A-Grade. The pics below are of me at the prologue start, I fared well in this, even whilst riding my Road Bike with no aero-bars. I will definitely take the TT bike next year to mix it with the A-Grade guys better.

Below is a list of what I plan to do through the winter and then into the Tri-season. No overseas races this year, I want to keep it local and get my health and fitness up to its peak. The main goals are to defend my Taupo Half IM title, regain my NZ Champ status at the Mt Half in January, then be a contender at IMNZ in March. A course PB is my minimum expectation, this would have placed me 5th this year, although I long for a podium finish.


June, Tour of Taranaki June 6th-8th
July, Okororire Fun Ride, Craters Classic MTB race
August, Mizuno 1/2 Marathon, N-Duro 50km MTB race
September, Taupo-Napier Cycle Classic, Onehuga 1/2 Marathon
October, Motu 160 MTB/Road challenge, K2 Cycle Challenge
November, Round the Lake Cycle Classic, Karapiro 1/2 IM or, Rotorua National Series Tri
December, Taupo 1/2 IM, Surfbreaker Sprint Tri
January, Mt Half IM
February, Kinloch Tri
March, NZIM, Auckland 1/2IM

A busy schedule! Most of these races are in fact training sessions, there are really 3 key races as mentioned above.

That's all for now, tune in again soon for race reports and updates each month.

Cheers
Dunc.

Boofriggityhoo

A couple of weeks of reflection, a few pies, too many Gins and some quality time with my Girlz has provided some much needed clarity and a pathway forward after the disaster that was 2 weekends ago. Unfortunately, a DNF next to my name, very gutting and my 3rd in my Tri career. I don't want to bore you all with the inane details so I will keep it short so here goes!

The day didn't start too well ripping my wetsuit in transition 20Mins before the start. Luckily Andy MacKay had a spare so after a quick sprint to her car, his partner Andrea supplied me with an alternative suit that was a perfect fit. I started quite well but into the second lap I started to feel rubbish, had 2 vomits and lost a heap of time getting stuck in the currents at the far end of course. 3Mins down out of the water wasn't too bad and I set about catching the leaders. I started OK, dialled into 300W which I rode at both the Worlds and Taupo 1/2IM. Before long I spewed again and seeing this on dry land was a little concerning. A nasty thick brown consistency that I can only assume contained the lining of some part of the digestive tract! I haven't ever had this kind of issue before. I presume it was due to the 3 weeks of anti-inflammatory use prior to the race catching up with me and worsened by the race intensity, adrenaline and gels. Before long I felt like I had ridden the first week of the Tour De France and had nothing in my legs. I started losing ground on guys I normally out ride easily and had done so 4 weeks earlier at the Taupo Half. Then guys starting coming up from behind and as hard as I tried to push the SRM said I was riding worse than I normally do on "average intensity" training ride. Something was majorly wrong and having only had 2 runs since the 22nd of December due to my knee injury I pulled out after the first lap of the bike. A crap experience, embarrassing and a real let down. All of my family were there, Mum, Dad, my two sisters, 5 nieces and nephews, Uncle from Oz not mention Amanda and Alex. Also and a heap of friends from Taupo and Tauranga all out there to cheer me on an I didn't even lace up my running shoes:(

Still the sun came up on Sunday morning and since then I have put much thought into what lies ahead. The conclusions are that I'm basically tri-fried and need a decent break. After crashing out of last years IMNZ I got straight back in the pool and didn't have the normal 6-8 weeks of recuperation time. I continued on through the year training and racing, working and also learning all the joys and pitfalls of fatherhood! Since I raced the Yepoon 1/2 IM in August I have had some kind of illness each month. Flu, Colds, a respiratory Virus and a nasty bout of Gastro-Entiritis. My immune system is not coping and has given up the ghost!

With all this in mind I have decided not to do IMNZ this year. It will be the first time I haven't lined up since I started the sport in 2003. That year I had only planned to do one Ironman, geeez time goes by quickly. I think this is the best decision with the future in mind. Grovelling out the next 6 weeks to IMNZ, more than likely getting sick again and performing poorly is not something I want to do.

The Auckland 1/2 is late March and may be a possibility. Currently I'm leaning towards not doing that either and just running for fitness for a while with no specific training programme. Then into the winter I will join the Cycle Club and race along with a few interesting running events and possibly a couple of Marathons. No definites just yet but a non-tri winter might be the best thing for me to be super charged come the Tri Season next year. I am not finished with Ironman that's for sure, I see IMNZ 2011 as a nice target to pull out my best ever race.

Till next time, thanks to everyone for all your continuing support, it will be nice to watch some of you this year at IMNZ and revel in your glory for a change:)

See you at the races...