After a day of travel we arrived in NZ on Wednesday and after a quick nap at cousin Mike's place we were in the hire car down to Tauranga. We had a great place to stay in there and the people who owned the accommodation were amazing.
The next few days were spent eating healthy, catching up on sleep, having a look around tauranga and drinking the occasional coffee :)
Finally Friday was upon us and it was time to check the bike in. This part was pretty much a dream come true to me and it was surreal to think that this time last year I was at this race with my best mate Andy standing next to the pro racks saying "wouldn't it be amazing if we were racking our bikes in those racks". It was pretty cool :)
After an ok sleep it was up early in the morning to head to transition the minute it opened - a habit of mine. The nerves were high but I was done relatively quickly, with everything going smoothly. After some help from Paige with getting the wetsuit on and some good luck wishes from Edwin, Byron (a couple of mates who just happened to be in NZ at the time :)) and most importantly Paige it was into the water for a warm up.
More like a cool down (hilarious). The water was absolutely freezing, for me anyway and I reallly struggled to get warm. I completed my warm up and lined up on the outside of the pro pack. I knew I wasn't going to be swimming with the uber swimmers and I didn't need to get a beating from the other pros.
BOOM - and the gun went off. I started well and managed to work my way across to the back of the lead pack. The first lap was a small 750 followed by a large lap of 1250. To my amazement and surprise I actually came out of the first lap JUST tagged onto the back of the lead pack!! This (unsurprisingly) didn't last long and I lost touch at the start of the second lap. I lost a little time on the second lap and for the 2k came out in 30 flat (a little slow) but surrounded by a few other pros.
Onto the bike and I was happy to have the company of a few pros. We rode legally together in a pace line and I was pleasantly surprised to see the gap to the lead pack wasn't astronomical at the first run around. The first lap (of the two lap bike course) was pretty uneventful. I stayed within the line, focusing on my pacing and nutrition, working hard into the headwind and enjoying the lift home from the tailwind. The SIS gels we going down beautifully :) The wind was brutal though and was certainly battering us around, especially when coupled with the rain, who was I to complain though, everyone else had to deal with it.
The second lap I made a mistake in my first race that I think lost me ultimately a few positions. On the way out to the turn around, probably around 55k, I lost touch with the paceline I was riding in. We were into a pretty stiff headwind and I put my head down. Probably for 10 seconds max, I looked up and the person in front of me lost touch with the group. "no problem luckin" I thought to my self. "I'll just go around, put in a bit of an effort and catch back up". Silly, silly mark. I quickly realized that going around solo to try and catch up to a group of pro's riding together wasn't going to happen. I gave it my best but I couldn't catch them. I spent the rest of the ride riding solo. Not nearly as cool as it sounds (if you say riding solo like a rap song...yep..) 2.24
I came into transition and after some great support from Paige I was off onto my favourite - the run :) This run was/is brutal. Out into a headwind, then around Mt Manganui. I went in the run with some great advice from Guy Crawford to run on pace on the flat section and don't look at it around the mount - too many people try to stick to their pace around the 5k mount part (which you have to do twice) and blowwww about 12k in.
I followed this advice and still ran the first lap at 4 min per k pace. I was feeling good. The second lap was brutal. The wind had really picked up and running out into it was really character building. At one point I had a little talk/argument with myself that went something like this. "You don't like pain do you Mark? Yes I do! No you don't! PROVE IT!!"
Thinking back on that I think that was a bit of a defining moment in that race and in my racing in general. I made myself hurt, I dug really deep. After a torturous last run around the mount I was on my way to the finish line. It was pretty cool running down there as a professional and certainly a memory I will never forget :) 1.26
Seeing Paige at the finish line made my day :)
After finishing the race I was fairrlllyyyy sore but it was great to reflect with Paige and friends. I soon found out I was the 14th PRO so I was over the moon with that and a PB on a wet, windy, cold and tough day :)
The next few days were spent exploring NZ with Paige and whinging about how sore I was, it was a great experience.
I learnt a lot from this race. 1. I think I am heading in the right direction and 2. I still have a way to go. I am now excited about the future and super motivated to succeed in further race.
Everyone that sent me support thank you :) means more than you know. Major thanks must go out to Brian my coach for his guidance and support. Guy Crawford for helping me out immensely. As a current pro racing where I want to be in a few years his help is huge and the fact he so willingly helps me is appreciated more than imaginable. My main training man Sean, YOU ARE THE MAN, enough said. My family for their unwavering support thank you. Finally Paige who puts up with my highs lows and everything in between and supports me now matter what, thank you and I love you.
What's next? Singapore 70.3 :) but I'll put another blog up shortly :)
Cheers
