Fairly late last year I'd set myself a goal to do the Lake Wanaka Half, which is the half-distance option of Challenge Wanaka held on January 19th. The longest races I've done before this were a few half marathons so adding a decent swim & bike warmup to one seemed like a fairly decent goal to push my limits and have an outlet for all the aimless training I'd been doing.
I'd done the equivalent of Olympic distance on a training day once, so it didn't seem like enough of a challenge to me to race a distance I already knew I could do. I'd feel more proud of going longer than going faster. Plus I don't really like the concept of draft-legal bike sections so stepping up to a 70.3 seemed like the natural way forward.
As luck would have it I injured my foot the very same day I made the commitment so my training plan was badly compromised. I wasn't happy about that as I'd just finished recovering from a minor stress fracture which had screwed up my year so far.
So with all that in mind my intention was definitely to complete, not compete.
We arrived in Wanaka on the Thursday to find a beautiful clear sky with light winds and a glass-flat lake. I was hoping for those conditions on race day (Saturday) but knew better than to expect it.
 Lake Wanaka on Thursday(Click to enlarge) |
I went for a ride along the last section of the bike course so I'd know what to expect on race day, and also to clear some cobwebs out of the legs (it was in my training program anyway). After that I headed back to the motel and grabbed my swimming gear for a practice in the lake.
It's just as well we'd planned this swim as the lake was about as cold as anything I'd ever experienced... not that I'd done a lot of open water swimming so far. I heard later that the lake temperature was just a touch over 15°C. I got used to it after a few minutes of swimming out to a buoy and back, except my feet were still feeling very cold at the end of the session.
I was glad I'd brought the neoprene cap with me: I'd been reluctant to buy it as a "just in case" item but it came in very handy. I ended up buying some neoprene socks the following day as I didn't want my feet to be that cold for transition. Lucky they still had some left at the Racers Edge tent.
 Wanaka looking good on Friday morning(Click to enlarge) |
Normally I'm not the earliest of risers so I'd been gradually shifting my alarm back during the previous week. For Friday I had it set for 5am as it would be for race day. After an early breakfast I went for a walk to take in the scenery while my wife had a sleep in. The air was pretty cold but the lake was looking amazing in the early sun and a few brave souls were out having a swim.
 A brave swimmer, but the water was probably warmer than the air at the time.(Click to enlarge) |
The rest of the day was pretty busy, getting my transition bags sorted and setting up the bike with drinks and nutrition. The checklists I'd made before leaving home were a great help to ensure I didn't forget anything in the pre-race excitement. (I like checklists and make them all the time.)
Wanting an early night I didn't plan to stick around and watch all of the Contact Tri racing but it was pretty good and we met up with some relatives there so we sat and watched the racing together. The weather had been fine and calm all day but just before the elite mens race started the nor'wester came up and the lake took on a completely different personality. Well that's a shame, maybe it'll calm down overnight.
The wind ended up strengthening during the night and I started to get a little concerned when it woke me up 3 or 4 times. Nothing I can do, just go back to sleep. Maybe it'll calm down by morning. When I got up it sounded fairly calm and wasn't too bad outside, but down by the lake it was a different matter. The wind was still quite strong and the water looked a bit choppy. From the shore it didn't look any worse than I'd been in before so I wasn't too bothered by it. In I went for my warmup, if you can call it that at 15 degrees. In hindsight I should have got in a lot earlier than I did.
I wear earplugs in the open water now as I tend to get very dizzy otherwise (cold water can really upset your sense of balance when it gets into the inner ear). So when I saw everyone starting to move I thought I hadn't heard the starter. Nope, we were just heading out to the deep-water start line which was a bit deeper that I expected because the lake was so high.
 Heading out to the start(Click to enlarge) |
Out at the start line I noticed the waves were a lot bigger than they looked from the shore. Nothing I can do now. Then the starter went off and we were away.
Within a couple of minutes I was starting to consider pulling out. I really should have spent a lot longer warming up: whenever I put my face in the cold water I had a horrible reflex that had me gasping for air. It was really hard to try and relax and get my breathing slow and deep. The swell was causing an extra problem as my head would often duck under the top of a wave at just the wrong time and I'd come out coughing and spluttering. Turning onto my back for a moment didn't help as I'd get waves slapping over the back of my head.
I'd experienced choppy water before - you might scoff at Lake Pegasus but you'd be surprised at how big the chop can get in a good nor'wester. I'd also experienced cold water, but maybe not quite this cold. Both freezing and choppy at once? Not so much. Certainly not like this.
I had a couple of rests trying to get the breathing under control and while doing so I took stock of the situation. I couldn't bear the thought of pulling out, not after all I'd put in and overcome just to reach the start line. It would be such a letdown for both myself and my family who have supported me so well. The cold is something I could become accustomed to after a few minutes, and the swell would be coming from the side after the first turn. So reaching the first buoy became my goal.
Just as I started to get under way the women came flying past me. They'd been started 5 minutes after us so I knew I'd lost about that much time already. But as my coach said, a bad swim doesn't actually cost you a lot of time compared to a bad ride or a bad run. At this stage I thought my swim would probably be over an hour which was disappointing but I just wanted to finish it and get onto the bike.
Time wasn't a big factor for me in the race anyway because my buildup had been shortened due to the foot injury. So I didn't come in with expectations on race day! I knew I could get to T2 in good shape but I knew I'd have a battle on the run.
I was finally able to relax a bit on the second leg of the swim and only stopped a couple of times when I was swamped by particularly large waves. Just after the first turn I'd noticed a guy doing backstroke. Completely understood that, at one point I'd considered doing breast stroke the whole way but I might not have made the cutoff time.
Rounding the second buoy the swell was now coming from behind which was a nice change but I couldn't quite keep up with the waves so they upset my rhythm a little. The last leg felt quite long. It was difficult to sight as we were heading into the sun (sighting on a mountain helped), and the wind & waves coming from my left were pushing me off course. Much more interesting than the pool.
Getting out of the water was a wonderful moment, but looking at the photos I didn't look as if I was quite all there. I certainly didn't feel it. I only had two things on my mind: get the top of the wetsuit off while I'm moving and don't forget to pick up my transition bag on the way through.
After a smooth but unspectacular transition it was onto the bike. I'd been looking forward to this as the bike is my strongest discipline by far (I have a long history of biking recreationally, first MTB then road). I'd spent way too much on a nice Quintana Roo bike which had unfortunately killed any chance of me getting some aero race wheels unless I sold some things in time... which didn't happen. I have to admit I felt a little embarrassed at riding a frame like that with the wheels from my road bike. But with some of the cross winds on the day it might not have been so bad after all. A couple of brave people were running disc wheels on the rear which would have been good fun at times.
The first leg of the course out towards Glendhu Bay is absolutely spectacular. My only problem was the traffic. Because I'm a slow swimmer it means I end up passing a lot of people on the bike. I was constantly having to remind myself of the drafting / blocking rules. A slow vehicle didn't help at one point as the draft zone for cars is huge so I was afraid to pass other riders with the car up front.
While I came back through Wanaka my wife had stationed herself near the top of the first climb out so she took a photo of me as I came past. It just so happens that my coach was immediately behind me at the time. He'd suffered from a nasty bug the night before so was fighting his own battles, otherwise he'd have been way ahead. If I'd noticed him I'd have said hi...
 Climbing out of Wanaka towards Hawea, with my coach just behind me(Click to enlarge) |
The ride out to Lake Hawea was very nice with lots of little hills to break up the monotony. I thrive on hills so the course map hadn't bothered me one bit. Not having had a lot of hours practicing in the TT position I took the opportunity on the climbs to sit up and take in some nutrition. I'd planned to eat every 15 minutes but I was happy to adjust the timings if there was a convenient hill. I'd also top up my aero drink bottle if needed. If you have aerobars you should get an aero bottle as they're fantastic as you can drink without disturbing your aero position. It's a pain to clean but still worth it.
The roads are a little on the rough side at times and I saw a few drink bottles, still in their holders, lying on the road. So durability is obviously important. I'm glad to say that nothing fell off my bike which is a relief considering how the courier had treated it when I bought it.
Coming through Hawea was good fun. The head wind on the way out hadn't really bothered me but boy the cross wind going across the bridge certainly kept me on my toes. Lake Hawea looked incredibly rough. I stayed up on the base bar going through the town as one thing I've learned from commuting on a road bike is that you'll be nicely sheltered from a cross wind until you go through an intersection where it'll suddenly hit you.
When we turned out of Hawea towards Luggate the wind was behind me so I quickly found myself in my second-highest gear ratio. Didn't quite have the strength endurance to stay in top gear for long, especially with the run still to come. Then came one of those weird "race day will always throw something unexpected at you" moments when I felt a sharp pain in my right shin. I glanced down but couldn't make out what it was - when going at that speed you don't want to take your eye off the road for very long.
I swept at it with my hand in case it was something that had stuck there but I could still feel it so I looked down again. Hmm, a barb of some sort. I came to a stop and picked it out. I'm pretty sure it was a bee sting, and the first sweep of my hand had removed the sac and left the barb behind. Glad I'm not allergic. It's only the second time in my life I've been stung, and the previous time would have been about 30 years ago. When I got going again it was sore in the surrounding muscle for a few minutes then went away.
We reached the next turn soon enough and after a climb that some people must find heartbreaking I reached the final section along Riverbank Rd where I'd ridden on Thursday. Familiarity is a good thing towards the end of the ride but it seemed shorter this time around. It was nice knowing that Cardrona Rd is downhill all the way but I did encounter a few cars along there so I had to be careful.
Before I knew it I was back in transition. I racked the bike and started jogging off to the transition tent... before realising I'd forgotten to pick up my T2 bag. The other riders hadn't quite left enough room for me to rack my bike in its correct place so I'd had to put it a little further along the rack away from my transition bag. I hope the others didn't get too annoyed at the way I'd had to rack it with handlebars overlapping, but I had no option. Another reason to race faster next time so I get in first.
I'd estimated about 3 hours for the bike but came in at 3:15. But the 3-hour figure didn't really anticipate the climbs nor quite such a head wind and difficulties passing. Nor did I anticipate the comfort stops which had added a total of about 5 minutes. My intention had always been to take it easy on the bike for the sake of the run so I'm satisfied with the time I did. I thought I did well with the pacing considering I didn't have my bike computer but I'd kept an eye on it with my stopwatch and the distance markers. 30km/hr is easy to calculate with as it's 2 min per km.
Heading out on the run I felt good. I felt GREAT. I was smashing along; my time at the 2km split was just over 9 minutes. I'm a slow runner at best and with no opportunity for speed work in my buildup, holding 4:30 per km is unheard of. So either their distance was wrong or I was simply going a lot faster than I should have. Possibly both.
My coach had mentioned the jelly-legs you can get when transitioning from bike to run but I have to admit I've never once felt it, even with high-intensity brick sessions up to two hours long. This may be one reason why I tend to go out a bit fast on the run.
 Heading out on the run, feeling good now but lots of suffering to come.(Click to enlarge) |
After about 3km it all came home to roost and I started to fall apart. My second goal besides finishing was to do the run without walking, and having the wheels fall off with 18km to go I wasn't sure how I was going to do it. But you eat an elephant one bite at a time so I just kept plodding along to the next aid station. I wasn't going very fast - not much more than walking pace - but I needed to keep moving. I was having trouble taking in nutrition so I was just getting some down whenever I felt up to it. The temperature was climbing but I didn't really notice it. I'm well aware of the perils of dehydration so I made sure I took in fluids at every aid station.
The run course had been moved to plan B so we missed out on part of the Outlet Track due to flooding but this wasn't a big disappointment to me, it just wasn't quite as scenic as it could have been.
The rest of the race was one of the hardest slogs I've ever had. Curiously I felt best while climbing the hills. I saw a few of the leading pros who were on their first lap of the marathon and they looked pretty good. I was astonished at the pace at which Gina Crawford passed me. I wanted to shout "Go Gina" but it might have killed me so I just kept fighting my battle.
I thought it might hurt a bit less coming down Ardmore St as the finish was well and truly in sight by then. Not so, there's no adrenalin today. I had to grit my teeth and just keep running, utterly spent as I had been for the past couple of hours. A guy passed me quite close to the finish but I didn't care. I have been known to get a sprint on at the end of a long race, but not this time. When I look at the times I think he was even in my age group so I lost a place, but I was so far down the list it didn't make any difference.
 I finished alive! Note the Half time is the red clock to the left.(Click to enlarge) |
Finishing was a great feeling, having made it through the two great mental challenges of the swim and the run. I spent a while in the recovery tent just resting and slowly rehydrating and keeping out of the sun. Officially I'd only lost 2kg but I felt like I'd lost more than that. With my low body weight I need to be careful to avoid dehydrating and I've pushed it in training a few times so I know the routine well.
When I felt good enough to leave the tent and meet up with my wife I went back to the motel while she went back via the supermarket. I proudly put on my finishers shirt and took a photo. Half Iron, done. Can I sleep now?
One of the great highlights of the day was the amount of support and encouragement from people lining the course. A big thanks goes out to the people of Wanaka and all the other racers' supporters who cheered everyone else on too. It made my own little struggle that much easier. Most of the time I tried to give a thumbs-up or something in response.
So what's next for me? I don't know. The muscles only took a couple of days to stop hurting but I struggled with fatigue for about a week later before I felt up to doing some gentle exercise. The race took a lot out of me which is unsurprising given my poor buildup.
I'm immensely proud of overcoming the mental battles in order to get through the swim and finish the run without walking. I can be a stubborn bastard when I need to be and it's the sheer determination that got me through to the finish. From what I've heard the swim was about as hard as it gets before they activate plan B, which is good news as I wouldn't want much more. Well, maybe if I'd just been better prepared. It's certainly a lesson to take away.
I am definitely keen to return next year but should I do the half with a good buildup or take on the full distance? That's to be decided...
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Here are the blog entries I've seen from the pro racers. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you see more as I'm keen to read them and add them below.
- Gina Crawford
- Dylan McNeice
- Chris "MACCA" McCormack (video popup)
- Keegan Williams
