Lessons learned

Kia ora guys,

Well it's been a few weeks since my last post and man time has flown by!

In only three weeks I will be in my way to Taupo for IRONMAN NZL and I have just wrapped up my biggest weekend of training which I have survived J

Over the three day weekend I clocked up 5km open water swimming, 10.5 hours on the bike and 44km running and despite suffering on one of the days due to dehydration I can take a few key points away which reinforced what I already knew but highlighted the importance of staying fuelled.

On the Saturday 10km in on a 180km ride one of my bottles fell out, I thought I would be ok and pick it up on the way back in and drink one bottle over 80km however, when I got back to where the bottle fell out it was no longer there.

Thankfully we stopped in Taupo before our second lap with race efforts and I thought with two bottles topped up I would be ok but, I was quickly reminded that 2.40 hours on one bottle is not enough, after the first 30min effort I found myself in the box and when you have 70km to go it is soul destroying and your body shuts down not wanting to take on fuel and no matter what you put in when you are behind it is near impossible to get back on top of it.

I got through the ride and was thankful to see Penny waiting for me with a bottle of coke and water before I headed on to the run, I felt really good but by the forth km due to lack of electrolytes I got cramp in my left quad which left me standing on the road side for four minutes before I could continue. Once I got back going it was great to know how strong my mind game is and how strong my running firm currently is, Penny surprised me in a few areas handing me a bottle of water and I finished the day being reminded to look at the positives from a tough day… better to happen now than on race day.

So, what was my lesson learned... apart from ALWAYS go back and pick up your bottle in a training ride the session has highlighted the importance of having a solid nutrition plan and sticking to it, although I am lucky to be able to look at the positives from the session it could easily demotivate someone so close to an event but I have put in too much work for that to be the case.

I have a few light days of training this week and have a good catch up with my coach (Simon Cochrane) to go over a few points get them nailed over the next four weeks to make sure my hard work pays off on race day!

Until next time, train hard, smart and ALWAYS go back and get your bottle! ;)

Robo