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10:57:29 as 1:02:41/T1-4:42/5:52:33/T2-1:34/3:55:59

2^nd M55-59 (by 17 seconds)

The day dawned clear and crisp at 4am, with the promise of a beautiful day and great racing.  With nearly 2,500 competitors, it would be a big day.

Essential carbo-loading supplies

The water temperature in Lake Coeur d’Alene had done a see-saw.  From a face-numbing 54F (12C) when I arrived, it had over the course of a week risen to a promising 60F (16C), only for winds to stir-up the Lake the day before and temperatures fall back to around 55F (13C) on race day.

My swim was without significant incident, if you discount the usual punch to the eye, kick in the jaw, tangle of arms, people swimming over your legs, or the odd lapped swimmer on the 2-lap course doing leisurely breast stroke on their back and bringing you to an abrupt stop when you come upon them.  There was huge congestion around the buoys encouraging close relationships amongst the entangling throng.

I managed a PWWSR (personal-worst wetsuit swim record) by almost 6 minutes in 1:02, but was immensely relieved to exit the water alive, with air in lungs and extremities still attached to arms and legs.  But it was not until half-way in the bike leg that feeling returned to my feet and I could confirm that I had not left these feet in the Lake, or in my wetsuit after the “strippers” had deftly de-wet-suited me.

A tough swim for a tropical creature like me. Photo courtesy of Dave Erickson, swimbikerunvideos.com

I was in second place in my age after the swim, behind John Weston from Missoula MT ,no doubt a turbo-charged Arctic duck, clocking a respectable 55minutes.

The bike leg started kindly, if not a bit cold, with a 10k/6 mile spin out along the Lake, with hundreds, nay, thousands, of enthusiastic cheerees spurring you on to great achievement.  There was even a Scottish pipe band, piping the momentary glory of your passage up the hill.  On the return back down Bagpipe Hill it was pretty funny, as the Doppler-effect ratcheted up the key as I sped down to them, whereupon it went badly off-key as the band receded behind.

The return to town saw you cheered on by even more crowds, before heading north up to and around Hayden Lake, brilliant scenery, and on to what the locals call “the wall”, a modest hill that takes 5 or 6 minutes of effort for the likes of me to crest.  This is followed by “the rollers”, a series of 3 hills/downhills in succession that provide a bit of excitement/effort in that order.

Surprisingly on the first lap of the bike I was passed by less riders than I had anticipated, although in the early stages there were some biking-studs who had the dual-depressing skill of riding past me at great speed, and with an ultra-low cadence.  This gave me the feeling that I was not only slow, but also something of a weakling.  Something to work on.

Parts of the bike were quite technical. Photo courtesy of Dave Erickson, swimbikerunvideos.com

A highlight of the second lap was a low-pass by what I think was an F111 jet.  It came up noisily behind, banked just behind me to make even more noise, then passed cacophonically on my right side not far above the tree tops.  I put in a short surge to outwit the pilot, but it seems he/she was unaware of the grand effort on my behalf.

An eventful moment on the ride included being passed by a bloke/guy with “60” on his calf, meaning he was in the M60-64 age group and me yelling in Australian “… go old bloke!”, then I re-passed the old bloke minutes later on a hill.  This was a fun game of leap-frog that occupied our time for some hours on the ride, knowing that I had a short 18 months before being elevated to M60-64 old bloke category myself.

The “old bloke” actually introduced himself to me at the presentation the following day, saying “I am the old bloke”, before he went on to collect his prize for winning his age group.  Well done “old bloke”, W. Mitch Hungate from Lake Tapps WA.

A most welcome BIG banana at The Rollers bike aid station

The final highlight on the bike course was finishing.  I could at last stop being neurotic about puncturing, having a technical breakdown, crashing, or of being passed by yet more riders.  My relief was palpable, and not unhappy with my 5:52, given that it was quite a hilly course, and windy on the return leg.  I was in sixth place in my age off the bike.

Palpable relief was almost immediately replaced with comic relief as I tried to run in to T2.  The legs refused to work in any sensible fashion and probably looked more like the efforts of a cartoon animator who had failed Walt Disney 1.01.  Forward progress was painful, awkward and totally uncoordinated.

 

Fun on the run in the sun

 

With the unco-T2-episode quickly fading into embarrassing memory, I experienced a new phenomenon – passing other competitors, in this case runners.  This builds on itself, because the pleasure of passing one then encourages you to seek more, a sort of short-term gratification like eating a fine chocolate, then making excuses for another, then another.

Then another.

Us old blokes are very supportive of one another, and I offered encouragement to my peers as I met them.  I was rewarded with the same, plus some tips like “… there is a 57 year old just up front”, and “you are running third”.  This was helpful to a point, but compression socks and faint/absent numbers made picking my opposition nearly impossible, and in truth I had no idea where I was placed in my category.

But I ran as if possessed, always thinking that the next person in front was in my age group, and waging a private and growing battle between my mind and my body, which was increasingly reluctant to deliver what I was asking.

The second run leg out on the two lap course was agony.  My body was in revolt, I felt revolting, I had too far to go, and had not gone far enough.  The bike ride seemed like a distant memory now.  The finish line as distant again.  Things dragged, and it was difficult to focus.

I tried to concentrate on externalities to block out the blindingly obvious.  Next aid station, the view, other competitors, funny faces, cheering fans, words that someone yells that ring around inside your head.  “Goin’ good!  Goin’ good!  Goin’ good!  Good goin!”  My head became an echo-chamber.

I lengthen my stride.  An aid station approaches.  More sugar.  Congestion.  Aid station passes.  I wave and cheer a fellow Timex Team member.

The crowds start to grow and I think that the finish cannot be too far now.  Gotta be less than 15 minutes.  Just 15 minutes.  Maybe 10?  Maybe 9?  Maybe 8?  Maybe maybe maybe.  Will I cramp?  I fight off some suggestions from a muscle that it wants to cramp.  No cramping I order.  I slap the offending muscle pointlessly to reinforce my instruction.

 

Isn't there some cunning loop inserted here just to prolong the agony?

I turn a corner into town.  Is that really the finish down there?  Is this a downhill finish?  Isn’t there some cunning loop inserted here just to prolong the agony?  My mind plays tricks.  Everyone is running a bit faster.  Must be the finish.  Time to run fast, I instruct body.  I pass others in my photon.  A burst of speed, a clock, outstretched hands, cheering, blur, an arch; I am still.

I am still.  My head spins.  I am still.  The body cannot comprehend stillness.  A catcher loops my arm around their neck; I pass my exhausted body to their care.  Faulting images impinge my conscious.  People are asking questions, expecting answers.  What size shirt?  Is that your timing chip?  Questions.  I am in shock, and mute.  The agony is over. Nothing matters.

My catcher walks me over to wife Ali on the other side of the barrier, issuing congratulations on my race.  She embraces my smelly, sweaty self.  I put my head on her shoulder and sob, and sob and sob.  I can let all the tension out, the pain, the nausea; now I can bask in total exhaustion, mental and physical.  I am again an Ironman, #10.

 

The big bloke at presentation, 3rd from right

A big thank you to the thousands of volunteers in Coeur d’Alene, without which this race would not be possible.  Another big thank you to all the spectators, for your cheering and support.  Thanks to Timex Team bike mechanic Doug Berner for immaculate preparation of my bike, to Timex Team Manager Tristan Brown for bringing it all together, and to coach/wife/personal physio Ali, for getting me to the start in one piece ready to race.

And finally, a big thank you to our hosts Katie and Paul Burke, from Burke Mountain, Coeur d’Alene, for your exceptional hospitality and support.

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On the 8^th of April, my very good friend Katie was supposed to be celebrating her 28^th birthday. Instead she lost her battle with Cervical Cancer. I first met Katie in mid-2007, only a few months after starting triathlon. She was doing her honours in Sport and Exercise Science at the University of the Sunshine Coast looking at triathletes. I volunteered to be one of her subjects. After 3 sessions where she put me through the ringer, coaxed me through some gruelling testing on a bike and a treadmill where she was wiping spit off my face and the floor (from the O2 mask I had to wear) & taking my blood- lets just say we were way past small talk after the first 5minutes of meeting! She became my most reliable coffee date. Talking about all things 20-something year old chicks do; gossip, boys, work, boys, training, boys, plans for the future and boys! Giving each other advice on boys, life, training and boys.... She was one of the few people I could be totally honest with, trust with my darkest of secrets and reassured that I would always feel so much better after spending time with her smile, laugh and conversation.

She was diagnosed with Cervical Cancer in September 2010. In October her kidneys started to shut down and then by December the cancer had spread to her abdominal lymph nodes. Then 10days ago I got the phone call I never, ever thought I would.... she had passed away after collapsing at the health retreat from a kidney infection. She hung on until the morning of her 28th birthday and then slipped away from our world leaving us left behind shattered and empty. Words cannot describe the hole I have inside and how much I will miss my loving and loyal friend.

I was unable to attend her funeral as last Friday I flew to Townsville, borrowed my brother’s car and drove 650km west to Julia Creek. I was lucky enough to have accommodation with a lovely girl, Sally Eales, who works in the information centre there. I crashed hard Friday night, putting away almost 10hours of sleep. The next morning was the triathlon which I had travelled out for. I went out last year, and finished a disappointing 4^th as it was a surprisingly stacked field. This year my competition would be the young Maddison Allen from the QAS squad. Now focusing on long course, I’d have my work cut out for me racing a sprint tri against a specialist. T2 was located in town and T1 25km west of Julia creek at a dirty waterhole. The bikes were transported out to T1 on a cattle truck whilst we were briefed at the rodeo grounds and then moved onto buses out to the swim start.

The swim is 800m in a freshwater creek, T1 in a dusty creek bed where the gruelling 25km bike leg starts. 25km east into a strong headwind on a slight incline and then a very rough road over the final kms. I exited the water about 1.5mins down from Maddy and knew that the bike leg would make or break my race. I caught her with about 3km to spare and put about 20seconds into her….was it enough? I struggled with my right shoe in transition and she was hot on my heels, catching me about 1km into the 5km run, I thought it was over. Sticking together for about another 2km I knew I had to make a break cause if it came down to a sprint I feel young legs would win. On the 3^rd and final loop I’d broken away by about 7m and began to put the hammer down. At the final turn all I could think about was Katie. Rachael it’s 4mins of your life, not much of a fight compared to her 6months- run for her. With about 100m to go I knew I had it, increasing the gap to about 50m/ 16 seconds. 1^st and the added bonus of a chopper flight over Julia Creek, landing at the races in style, free red-claw luncheon at the races and VIP entry at the rodeo that night are all nice perks of the Julia Creek win.

So left JC at 5:15am Sunday to get back to Townsville before lunch to speed some time with my brother before heading home at 5pm….. However at 10:30 I was about 10km out of some tiny western Queensland town, about 250km from Townsville where the traffic came to a standstill at a floodway covered with 80cm of water. There I sat for 10hours waiting for the water to subside, finally crossing and arriving in Townsville at 10pm (well after missing my flight!)

My next race is China 70.3. I am doing this race in memory of Katie Sutter and coincidently am fundraising for the Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation. Please donate to this amazing cause so that we can help prevent, treat and ensure that we don't lose any more young women to this devastating disease. Please click on the link below and give what you can to this cause: whether it's $1 or $100- every cent will go to the foundation and to this worthy cause.
http://www.everydayhero.com.au/rachael_paxton

Rachie xo

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Home! What a trip- been away for 13 days, 2 countries, 2 home stays, 2 races and minimal training between the two, so in a funny way I'm feeling a bit lazy!

 

Singapore 70.3 was yesterday. I pretty much lost all confidence last weekend so went into Singapore 70.3 with very very low expectations. I need to stop studying start lists and working myself into a frenzy with trying to guess the best possible placing I could get come race day. Top 10 was probably realistic but I'd have to give it all that was left in my tank.

 

The swim was in the ocean and there was quite a strong current we were (mainly) swimming against. A bit of a confusing 2 loop (one small one inside a big one) course, I lost the main pack quite quickly and was left swimming solo for the rest of the leg. Always such a good feeling when I get outta there! Onto the bike I actually found my legs quickly and wondered how long it would last for. I was quite happy with my bike leg as I know it was a hard, solid, solo effort. It's funny how short the 90km TT on the flat, fast course feels after doing the 200km in Abu Dhabi the weekend before. The run, however took me about 12kms to warm up into. I was a bit worried that the chasers were gaining on me. With about 6km to go I thought I was in about 7th place, 6th at best. At the 17km mark I passed Kirsten Molloy and put the hammer down. I couldn't believe it when Whit called me over the line as 5th place Pro female. Turns out Jodie Swallow had pulled out after the bike... and I had just assumed that she was that far in front that I couldn't even see her! (If she had of completed the course she would have embarrassed a few of the pro men!).

 

I am more than happy with this result. I was still in the money (even if it's not much, better than nothing!) and to pull out this race one week after feeling like I shouldn't even bother trying to do another triathlon makes the 5th place even more of an achievement.

Kudos to Michelle Wu who worked herself up into 3rd place during the run, her ability to push herself to her limit really came out on the course yesterday!

 

To my amazing home stay family, the Smiths. Susan- I’m missing your cooking sooooo much already, keep those recipes rolling in please. David- thanks for enduring slaps on the wrists for stealing extra papers with my article in it, my grandparents will be stoked! And Lauren- thanks for the photos, your enthusiasm, encouragement, entertainment with the hamster Kim Chi, taking me out training, showing me around the city, carrying all my crap and putting up with my pre-race nerves. Get onto the swim technique chick, good luck with the SAT's and you’re training/ racing. I'll be back to stay with you again soon :-) Another special thankyou to Donna for being taxi services, lady with the hook ups and for that memorable ride through Singapore city's morning traffic!

Home for a little bit now, next race is the end of April, but more on that closer to date.

Rachie xox

 The Triathlon Tribe is pleased to announce that we will soon be launching our first athlete sponsorship program. We are very happy that we are now in the position to develop such programs and are positive that, in our own way, we are doing our part towards the development of this great sport.

The Tinman, one of New Zealand’s oldest and most prestigious non-drafting Olympic distance event. Last year I was able to come away with the win, but this year the organisers stepped it up a notch by increasing the prize money. This attracted a top field with Kieran Doe, Michael Poole, Callum Millward, James Bowstead, Graham O’Grady and more all signing up to do battle. With the Rotorua race the week before going well I was confident and excited leading into this race. But I don’t think it was meant to be this year, I was a bit unlucky and on Tuesday night I started to come down with a cold. between Tuesday night and the race I tried countless ‘house wife remedies’ to try and get better, lemon orange Manuka honey and green tea drinks, apple cider drinks, V8 fruit juice, colostrums pills, immune system syrups from the chemist, gargling salt water. I also went to a acupuncture specialist who reckoned he could make me sweet it out by putting needles in my hands, and then told me to go home and make Ginger and Spring onion soup (it was horrible). But it still gradually got worse until it peaked on Saturday morning were I had to go to the doctors to see if it is a ridicules idea to even try to race. Fortunately it wasn’t and it was just a head cold with a swollen throat, so I had to try and defend my title. Saturday arvo I went for a 30min jog with Jimmy, and I didn’t feel too bad, the only problem now was that I wasn’t able to train last weeks race out of my legs so I still felt it in my quads a bit. But that probably was a good thing.

Through out the week I noticed that I felt worst in the morning, so race morning I got up very early and ate and drank lots, this seemed to help and I made the call to chuck myself in there. Racking my bike in position #1 was a great privilege considering the immense quality of the field to my right. James my brother was #2 and it was pretty cool to see our two bike hanging there. Both cannondale slices were kitted out with 808’s sub 9disc’s sram and zipp components. I skipped the warm up today and was ready to start. The gun went and it was on! Some guys took of quick but I quickly found myself up there with them for about 300m and then one guy took off like a shot. It was Doe, he opened up a gap in on time and was swimming amazingly. I had to be smart and tucked in the main front pack being lead by Michael Poole and Cameron Todd. Also in the group was Callum Millward and Andrew Mackay. It stayed like this for the whole swim and on exiting I hear the commentator say Doe has a 1min lead! With a pretty quick T1 I was out in 3rd and feeling ok. Callum and Michael were hot on my tale and after a couple of Km’s they came by me, I dropped back and kept them close.

At a small out and back about 8km into the ride I see that James Bowstead was only 100m back, so I knew he must have been riding well to catch us so quickly. So I surged to try and get a gap on the others and then James came by, and I knew that was a train I had to catch. Unfortunately the others had the same idea and also got on. James powered through the majority of the time, I came through a couple of times but didn’t have the lungs to hold it today. At the half way turn point it was James then me then Callum and James Put in a massive attack, it required me to produce 1002watts to stay with him. This temporarily dropped Callum but he fought back well and was back on in a km or so. We had Kieran in out sights now and by about 28km he saw us coming and sat up took in some nutrition. I put a surge in here to try and go past him fast James came by then Kieran did to, and we legally lapped it out which was good enough to put the gap on Callum (a very good runner). We extended our lead over the last 10km to have a 1min lead over Callum off the bike.

Kieran went through T2 like a shot and opened up a 30m gap on James and a 50m Gap on me. I slowly ran myself up to James. Then we ran together for 1.5-2km, hanging around 50m off Doe who was running great. James started to pull away and I couldn’t respond. At the turnaround I could see Callum hunting us down. He caught me at the bottom of the Mt base track (6.5km) at this point I could still see James and Kieran up the track and I knew it was going to be touch and go. For me, once Callum had passed me I knew it was a fair way back to 5^th so I had a bit of breathing room. I ran the Mt track strong and came home in 4^th, to hear that it was a sprint finish between Doe and Callum and James just 30 sec back in 3rd.

For me this was probably one of my most exciting races, it was so fun fast and close and I really enjoyed racing such a quality bunch of guys.

1.Callum Millward       0:19:25     0:58:37     0:35:16      1:55:29 (Auckland)

2.Kieran Doe                0:18:22     0:58:56      0:36:38      1:55:35 (Auckland)

3.James Bowstead      0:20:18     0:57:01      0:37:01     1:56:03 (Waiuku)

4.Mark Bowstead        0:19:23     0:57:57      0:38:00     1:57:09 (Waiuku)

5.Jamie Whyte             0:20:13     1:00:50      0:39:46     2:02:42 (Auckland) 

It’s a long drive from Boulder to Texas but once you enter the state of Texas it’s easy driving thanks to  Texan talk back radio which is pure entertainment. It’s all about civil liberty, even if that civil liberty negates all common sense.

I had the pleasure of travelling there with Ehren Van Melle, a Canadian who now resides in Boulder. I very quickly gained a lot of respect for Ehren because unlike many triathletes who are also Dads he realises that triathlon is a fun hobby and should always comes after his family and work commitments. I now have the pleasure of coaching Ehren towards his first Ironman and I like the challenge of helping him obtain the absolute maximum benefit from the minimum amount of training time.

Two weeks after Boise 70.3 and I knew my body was tired as I hadn’t had a recovery week and only had a two day taper leading in as I was really trying to use this period of time to obtain a huge aerobic and strength endurance base for Challenge Copenhagen. However I still I hoped that the altitude training would have started to take effect and the aerobic fitness gained wouldn’t cancel out the muscle fatigue. I certainly could feel the aerobic difference in the swim having one of my best swims getting out in 23 minutes not far at all behind the leaders. As soon as I got on my bike I knew I my aerobic fitness over muscle fatigue was not going to work for me. My quads were lead with fatigue and I couldn’t get my heart rate above 140 beats per minute. Normally I can race around 160 beats per minute for 90kms. Triple this with taking a wrong turn, being an absolutely pussy on some of the steeper descents and not being able to shift to one of the gears I wanted and I’m ashamed to say that mentally  I resigned myself to having a poor ride watching guys that I know I can ride with cruise off into the horizon.

I got off the bike way back in 13^th place. With the heat of the Texas sun bearing down I knew athletes that had ridden hard would be suffering so I set about getting comfortable on the run and ticking off a few people ahead of me. The longer the run went on the better I felt until I was well back into the top 10 and eventually only 2 minutes down from 5^th place with 2kms to go. Craig Alexander who watching the event, yelled out to me to ‘go, go, go, that I could catch James Cotter who was in fifth!'  I  was fairly stoked that the 2 x Ironman World Champ made the effort to yell out encouragement so I put the hammer down and got within a couple of seconds  coming up to the American flag filled finish but the bugger just finished ahead of me. On the upside I had the fastest run of the race out running legends like Terenzo Bozzone, 70.3 World Champ however I was fairly disappointed in my cycling performance and was itching to race again to make amends for riding like a decrepit  great grandmother.