Day 3- Wind, Rain, Sun & Lamb

I don't always read directions. So sometimes I don't bring necessary items when traveling. So far on this trip I've forgotten to pack two items. A wetsuit and a battery charger. Race rules changed a few days before I came that now make wetsuits during the swim compulsory. So I will be spending tomorrow looking for a wetsuit to use. Blue seventy has a nice speedskin that may work the best for me; my body dimensions don't make picking a suit out an easy job.
The battery charger was a stupid decision I made when I thought to myself that everything else that plugs into my computer gets charged from while being plugged in (my Garmin, Ipod, Iphone...). It turns out a camera does not get charged when plugged in to the computer. There will be no photos from any of my adventures today.

I've been getting up around 6 each morning so 4:00 on race day isn't such a big shock to my system. So much for a nice relaxing holiday. My morning routine involves some light stretching, reviewing my training plan for the day, checking the weather, a small breakfast and then down to the lake for a swim. This morning I was joined in the lake by 500 kids competing in the annual IronKidz triathlon. For anyone who is a multi sport fanatic New Zealand is the place to be. The newspapers talk in depth about the ITU circuit, the most recent results from local tri are on the news and access to high performance coaching and testing is a fraction of what we pay back home. Did I mention the weather? 9 months of ideal training weather, with 3 months of weather that they call "Rubish." Unfortunatly those three months are still better that most of Canadas weather in March, April & May. My swim this morning was about 2500m focusing on my technique and sighting, with 6, 90 seconds at race pace speed work thrown in to keep me warm. The lake was absolutly flat, with a high cloud cover. If that was the conditions on race day I would be a very, very happy.

After the swim I took some time to do a bit of school work, do the facebook routine, breakfast #2 etc. I also was able to get my bike tuned and ready for race day. I've been having some trouble with my derailure, breaks, and headset so had a mechanic come over to take a look. The mechanic was a friend of Lucy, the owner of the house I am at. When he was done with my bike I could tell a notable difference. I threw on some SPF 30, my racing gear and went out for a short ride on the bike course. On a side note I am very stoked on my bike setup- Zipp 606 rear, 404 front, Cervelo P2C frameset, new Specialized Tri shoes, and a Giro Aero Helmet. When I get a battery charger for my camera I will be sure to post some pictures. The bike course for IM NZ is a two lap route starting in downtown Taupo heading towards Reporoa. I took my time warming up from my place to the race start (about 4km) and from there followed the course route about 20km out and then turned around. By this time the sun had burnt off the clouds and it was hot with some significant wind. I'm feeling more and more rested each day, and can't wait to see what I can do on race day. I followed the same training pattern as my swim- noticed different markers along the route, where I can attack, where I can take in calories and where to hold back. The first 5km of the course is likely to be very fast, it's flat and not very windy with great smooth pavement- today I held about 38km/hr (130hr) on this section. I'll need to take this part easy on race day as HR is quite high after the swim and in the transition. Also, the next 7km is the biggest climb on the course. The climb is not very steep in nature- 4%, but much like the remainder of the course is on some unforgiving pavement. It's the kind of coarse, gravelly (is that a word) road that doesn't let you coast or steer with minimal effort. The rest of my ride was uneventful, except for the avacado salad I had for lunch that kept me company for most of the ride. After my ride I had a quick dip in a cold pool, had a snack, and tried again to get skin cancer out by the pool.

About an hour after I came back the storm clouds rolled in and we had a 20 minute torrential downpour. Then, just as fast as it had started we watch the clouds move past us and it was bright and sunny again.

A few things I should note about New Zealand. The milk is horrible, the vegtables are very good, but over priced. Carbohydrates are the main fuel source for most kiwis, obesity is still a problem here, even though people are more active here. I can't figure out why some things are soo expensive, and others are dirt cheap. Biking on the left side of the road gives you something to think about all the time (I've only once tried to move over to the right side of the road), and the lamb here is amazing.
I took a walk downtown to find some local food. After passing the KFC, McDonalds and Burger Fuel I found a nice resto that overlooked the lake. None of the front staff was actually from NZ, everyone I spoke to was here traveling and working there so they could extend their vacation. Even though the staff out front wasn't from here, the kitchen staff knew how to cook a top notch NZ lamb. Seasonal vegtables, local potatoes and a healthy serving of medium-rare lamb lived up to my expectations. And although the draft was flowing I resisted the urge. There will be plent of time for that after next week.

Hope everything is going well for everyone else.
My results will be available live at ironmanlive.com. The race starts March 7, at 7am NZ time. In BC that is Friday, the 6th at 10am. On the homepage there will be a live tracker and race posting with real time results. My race number is 140.

Cheers,
Pw.