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Post by flanman on Mar 3, 2024 14:58:31 GMT 8
And they say IM isn't hard anymore. The weather gods decided to add a little spice to yesterday's race.
A friend had to pull out at the 21 km mark of the run as she wasn't going to make cut-off. She said about 80 people didn't complete the swim. There were so many with seasickness from the chop. There were also 45-50 km headwinds and rain on the bike.
A lot of DNFs as well as DNSs (that decided on the day).
FM
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Post by andrewearlwood on Mar 3, 2024 15:49:38 GMT 8
And they say IM isn't hard anymore. The weather gods decided to add a little spice to yesterday's race. A friend had to pull out at the 21 km mark of the run as she wasn't going to make cut-off. She said about 80 people didn't complete the swim. There were so many with seasickness from the chop. There were also 45-50 km headwinds and rain on the bike. A lot of DNFs as well as DNSs (that decided on the day). FM Every so often the weather in Taupo becomes severe at this time of year. The locals will all tell you that this is a signal of the change in seasons. Up there next to the Lake and nestled between mountain ranges the change happens very rapidly. This would not be the problem that it often is if only the race was held two weeks earlier - mid February. not the first time this happened. It nearly happened to me in 2001, and in fact most stragglers had to pulled from the course after 9pm when the heavens really opened up. A few years later they cancelled the ironman and held a sort of duathlon with a 90km bike leg. The only drawback in Taupo as a race venue in my opinion. |
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Post by peterw on Mar 4, 2024 8:25:12 GMT 8
Ah yes... Who can forget the infamous 2006 IMNZ where the swim was cancelled and the ride and run were halved. Horrible weather! And the only multisport event I have ever done that started with the bike leg!
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blobby
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by blobby on Mar 4, 2024 10:32:40 GMT 8
Was an interesting day, the swim times were slow, I didn't think the swim was that bad, but it did take a few minutes longer than normal. Certainly the lake style chop stops you from getting a good rhythm. The benefit of it not being salty is you can drink as much as you like.
The ride was tough, the roads are dead and the wind was certainly up and about, making it a tough day out there.
The run course was great, I quite like it, however didn't spend much time out there, my calf has been problematic since mid december, I've barely run on it, trying to give it a chance to recover, but it wasn't to be. Was planning a walk run, and got to the 3km mark and it wasn't good, I persisted hoping it may warm up a little but at 13km pulled the pin - it was getting bad and another 3 laps wasn't going to see it improve, and didn't want to do any longer term damage. I was already walking every hill from the start to minimise any impact.
For me the race day was an attempt at getting the nutrition right (which seemed to be better than the past, however it was a cooler race).
Swim 1:06:51
T1 0:05:08
Bike 5:08:15
T2 0:05:22
Run 1:19:45 (11.1km, didn't make it to the next timing point)
Post T2, I had a 18min lead on 2nd (who ended up 2nd), and a 40min lead on the guy whom won the age group. As always the race is 3 disciplines, so it doesn't matter until the finish line, but eight of the top 10 all ran around 4hrs.
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Post by flanman on Mar 7, 2024 12:33:03 GMT 8
A tough call Blobby but as you said, you don't want to cause long term damage. Those times of yours were bloody good, especially that cycle time in those conditions (weather, road and body). You sound at peace with your decision, which is good.
Get well and line up when you want to. Good work.
FM
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