A forewarning: this is going to be a LONG read, primarily intended for my posterity. It will encapsulate my journey to New Zealand, covering the planning, training, pre-race "vacation," and, of course, the obligatory race report.

The build up

PLANNING!

Almost immediately after signing up for this race, it hit me like a load of bricks that there was going to be A LOT of planning and logistics involved in getting us to New Zealand. I've never flown to a race, so I always had the luxury of a full car to pack extra, mostly unneeded, stuff. As I mentioned in the St. George race report, we were lucky enough to be invited to spend Jess’s parents' 50th Anniversary with them. The original Hawaii plan was modified into a 7-day cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale, which is where I’m writing this at the moment. But that meant we needed to leave New Zealand shortly after the race instead of exploring the island afterward. We started narrowing down dates based on flights and settled on leaving the Saturday after Thanksgiving and returning to Las Vegas the day after the race (Monday the 16th), which would give us ample time to leave for Ft. Lauderdale three days later on Friday the 20th.

Now that the dates had been picked it was time to fill in the gaps. I started reading a ton about recommended itineraries and asking anyone who had visited New Zealand before to find things that piqued our interest. Based on time constraints we decided to stay on the North Island and leave the South Island for future travel. In previous adventures, I had found a travel blog (Earth Trekkers) that I liked which featured itineraries of things we enjoyed doing; experiences over museums. If interested, you can read the specific New Zealand version here. I also found a North Island itinerary from Audley Travel that I used to help plan our time on the island. I was even able to book some of the recommended hotels, which made searching for my own much less nerve-wracking. Finally, I found a free app named Wanderlog that allowed me to keep track of reservations, expenses and leave notes to review later. If you’re planning a trip to New Zealand, you can view our trip here.

Even though we did a lot of planning, I had a feeling that I was going to miss something but two different people gave me the same advice. They started by saying that you can’t see the entire state of California in two weeks, there’s no way you can see all of New Zealand in that time either and to focus on seeing and doing the things you want to do. This was great advice that helped put my FOMO at ease.

The vacation

Travel

After months of planning and training it was now time to get ready to leave which meant A LOT of packing and that was just the triathlon stuff. This was my first time flying with a bike so that had its own logistics and space constraints, but we also packed hiking gear plus a weeks worth of normal travel clothes. We were able to do all of this in three checked bags and a carry-on.

It all started with a ride to the airport from our friend Doug where a car ended up doing a 540 degree spin right in front of us. In that momemnt, all I could think was that we were going to get rear ended and have bike damage or worse, but it ended up being completely uneventful and was not a precursor to further travel issues.

We arrived at the airport and got all of our luggage checked in with none of the stress from a gate agent that I was prepared for. I guess over planning and weighing all of the bags 10 times was actually worth it. The flights went just fine with the exception of me leaving my AirPods case on the food tray that was picked up and disposed of. As soon as I realized my error, I asked a flight attendant and she said they searched but it was not found. The FindMy app shows the case is now in an Auckland landfill. The only other memorable part of the flight was the Captain inputting the wrong destination into the Inflight Entertainment System which made it fun to watch the time count down but the mileage go up. When we asked about it, the flight attendant laughed and assured us we were not going to Alakanuk, Alaska, but it would not be fixed as doing so would interrupt those passengers mid entertainment. Upon landing, it displayed that we had 7000 miles to go in less than 15 minutes.

When we arrived in Auckland, we proceeded to baggage claim and retrieved our bags without much delay and entered the thorough but efficient customs process, which meant we had officially arrived!

Now it was time to retrieve the rental car. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I was surprised that they just handed me the keys and told me to use Diesel; they were not at all concerned that I had never driven on the left side of the road. For those who are used to using turn signals, just know that you will likely turn on your windshield wipers a time or two during your trip. I managed to get us to the hotel without any incidents, so we were off to a great start.

Auckland

Even though we began our journey in the evening November 30th, it was now the morning of December 2nd! We arrived at our hotel before official check-in time and had planned to stow our luggage, but much to our surprise, the room was ready so we can begin to unpack a little. We walked from the hotel to the Auckland Fish Market for our first meal in New Zealand.

When we returned to our hotel we noticed that there was a Disney cruise ship in port. Upon further investigation, it was the actual Disney ship we had been on for my Dad’s 25th anniversary in March. While we thought we wouldn’t see it again, unfortunately, it was only a two day cruise to nowhere and we got to see it in port again.

Waiheke Island

The next day, we took a ferry to Waiheke Island where we rented eBike’s to explore the island. In hindsight, I think this was really helpful in acclimating to driving and riding a bicycle on the left side of the road.

Along our journey, we got to see some incredible beaches, landscapes and wineries.

Oh, I almost forgot about the hills. Luckily, we rented eBike’s because there was 2,500 feet of climbing during our 22 mile tour of the island.

Mt. Eden

The next morning we decided to explore a little bit outside of the big city. Our first stop was the dormant volcano cone Maungawhau also known as Mt. Eden which is the highest point in this region of the island with incredible views of the city.

Piha Beach

After Mt. Eden, we drove to the town of Piha. On a map it looked very close, but by car it was a different story. After successfully navigating my first round about we made it to the countryside where the roads can best be described as mimicking Maui’s Road to Hana. I thought there would be more highway, but the road was a very narrow, hilly, curved road. It was beautiful but I was definitely more focused on the road.

When we arrived in Piha it was immediately worth the adventure.

We began our exploration of Piha by doing the Kitekite Falls “track.” This was where I learned that our trails are their tracks. This was also our first experience to how well maintained their tracks were. At the entrance there was a kauri dieback cleaning station where you disinfect your shoes prior to entering the area. Once we entered the track, the path was very well maintained and in areas had boardwalks for traction and erosion prevention. After a short hike we made it to the falls which was incredible.

We stopped at the beach to put my toes in the Ocean for the first time before starting our drive back to Auckland where we had planned to see another Falls. The Karekare Falls track was closed due to flooding and erosion so we’ll have to keep it on the list for the next trip.

Dinner Cruise

Just writing this reminds me how busy this one day was! After surviving our drive to and from Piha, we stopped for lunch in Ponsonby which is an area of Auckland known for boutique shops and cafes. And that was just the warmup for our dinner cruise of Auckland Harbor. After freshening up, we made the short walk to the Pier where our sail boat departed from.

This was an incredible excursion. There were about 15 passengers on boat but we spent most of the trip talking to an older couple from Australia that were incredibly kind people.

The harbor was full of other sailing boats practicing for racing which was fun to see so close. The sunset didn’t disappoint either.

Hahei

It’s now time to bid Auckland adieu until our return home. Our next stop is Hahei, which is a town in the Coromandel Peninsula that is in northeast part of the island. We leave the gridlock of Auckland on the motorway (freeway) and enter what looks like the plains of the midwest and settle in to the 100kph speed limit that no one seems like breaking. After about an hour of motoring, we make a left and the road turns back into the Road to Hana until we reach our destination. One of my concerns is that I’d be holding up a local bombing through roads they were familiar with, but it never happened. On some of the inclines there are actual passing lanes that drivers abide by which is a welcome surprise. The scenery looks like we’re driving through a jungle rainforest, but every so often we can see the ocean and farmland, it really is a special place.

We entered the town of Hahei and pulled into our accommodations before check-in time so we took a short walk to see the beach.

We make it back to the hotel where we check-in to our bungalow for the next few days and settle in. We spoke with the manager about the area for awhile and he let us know that they’re getting busy because of summer but the town is expecting to be inundated with camper vans after the holidays. We had seen the camper van sites along the water, but what shocked us was that all but one of the businesses in town closed by 6pm with some closing as early as 3pm. It makes sense as they don’t have the population to sustain multiple shifts, but it was just very unexpected for the start of their busy season.

Our cottage is quite large, so I decide that it’s probably a good time to put the bike back together and plan to do a ride to get used to riding on the left side of the road and make sure everything is working correctly.

For Jess’s birthday we were able to secure a reservation at The Church Bistro which is an independent restaurant on the same property as our lodging. The building is historic as it was a Methodist church that was relocated to Hahei from Taumarunui almost 200 miles away. The exposed kauri beams, joinery and wooden floors are original. Oh, the food was pretty good too!

The next morning we set off on a hike to Cathedral Cove. It was a beautiful hike along the coast, but again, it was anything but flat. We decided to do the hike in the morning as you can actually walk through the cove during low tide, where later in the day it is accessible by kayak.

I finally ride by my bike! I did an hour ride just enjoying the scenery including a few hills turning around where the road stopped and could only be crossed via ferry.

Jess and I found a winery to stop by for lunch that also had incredible pizza to go with their views and wine.

Later that afternoon I met up with some Las Vegas athletes that just so happened to be arriving in Hahei the same time we were there. Melissa and Ted fresh from the South Island met up with Jolene and Rex who just landed in Auckland that morning. Upon seeing them, Melissa let me know that she now knows and agrees when I had warned them about the windy (curvy) road and wasn’t telling them about wind howling.

The next day we made it to Hot Water Beach at low tide and joined another couple who had already begun shoveling their hot tub. It was definitely an experience as the ocean water was mid 60s but the water underneath the sand was definitely 120+ so when the ocean water would break over our sand wall it actually felt great and if it got cool, just dig down a few inches to get fresh hot water.

Tongariro

After our little dip at Hot Water Beach it was time to start our journey to the center of the island. We made plans to do an excursion about half way to our next lodging so we packed up the car and hit the road again. Once we got out of the windy section of the road it was mostly rural farmland until we reached our next destination.

Waitomo

When you search for things to do in New Zealand, this will be a result and it was definitely worth the stop. You enter the cave and are given some history before descending and loading a rope guided journey through the lower caverns. The caves themselves are amazing, but the glowworms are rather magical. They are a relative of a gnat but their blue bioluminescence is what makes them special. The pic below is what the end of the cave looked like from the outside.

I know the photo below is a bit cheesy, but since you couldn’t take photos in the cave this green screen photo actually does a great job of showing what we did see.

Bed and Breakfast

We arrive at our Bed and Breakfast and greeted by Bernie and Marie. They have a great place to stay near the ski town of Ohakune that is also close to the Tongariro National Park. We begin to tell them about our plans and they suggest that based on weather forecasts we should check with our tour operator to ensure that it was still happening. It was honestly something I hadn’t thought of, but I’m glad we did as they moved up the time by an hour. Apparently, the wind was scheduled to pick up in the afternoon and the National Park wanted everyone off of the exposed sections by the early afternoon. Now that was all cleared up, it was time to grab a quick meal in Ohakune where we found a delicious Thai restaurant.

Tongariro Alpine Crossing Hike

This was another highlight of the trip and what also took up a large portion of our luggage. After an early morning wake up and hour drive we made it to the car park where we were driven by bus to the start. This was a first for both of us, that it is a point to point hike. While it is possible to do this hike up and back, you don’t get to see all of the landscape and it is definitely not something you want to do both ways in the same day.

The hike is 12.5 miles with 3500 feet of elevation. It starts out in what looks like desert landscape with limited vegetation which has been in contrast to our experiences so far. Again, the track is well maintained with grates covering most of the ground to assist with traction and prevent erosion.

This landscape was used in many scenes in the Lord of the Rings trilogies including Mount Doom in Mordor. Neither of us are giant fans, but it was fun to see some of the side by side images people have created. The truth is, the movie stuff is way less impressive than the actual scenery. The standouts are the red cinder cone and the blue and emerald lakes.

I did state that the track was well maintained and had plenty of traction. Well, except the downhill from the highest point to the emerald lakes. That was a side step through loose sand through some of the steepest section of the hike. It was totally safe, but we were both jealous of those seen with hiking poles. But the views and destination were definitely worth a little extra caution.

After the lake views, the descent back to the car was interesting as the landscape transitioned into marshlands and then rainforest.

We definitely tried to take our time and enjoy our scenery along the way, but when we returned to the Bed and Breakfast, Bernie and Marie were both shocked to hear that we had done it in under 5 hours. The National Park promotes that this hike takes on average 6-8 hours so 5 was a bit of shock when I looked as the km markers counted down.

That evening we drove back into Ohakune and decided to drive to the ski lodge at the edge of town for dinner. As dinner is ending, the most unreal thing happens. A gentlemen at the table next to us, turns around and looks at me and says, "David?” During dinner, I did notice the other table and remember hearing them speaking German since English has been the only language we’ve heard over the last week, but that was the extent of it. I’m not sure how I put it together so quickly, but it was Frank who I’ve met one time in real life when he was preparing for the Ironman World Championship in St. George, Utah. After that meetup, we did become friends on social media and have followed each other, but the odds of us both being in that restaurant on that day and that time still boggles my mind. He was in the country for the same reason I was, but no one else I spoke to was spending anytime in Ohakune. It was great to say hi and catch up briefly and hopefully we’ll cross paths again.

Napier

We had breakfast with Bernie and Marie before hitting the road for Napier. Bernie asked which way we were going and he confirmed that we were going the faster way and a road he enjoyed driving. Well, if you were in a sports car, I could see how this would have been enjoyable, but our full-size SUV was less impressed with another LONG, WINDY road. It was beautiful countryside and we did get to see a lot of sheep, but other than land rights, I have no idea how these roads make any sense.

Napier is an interesting town. In 1931 the town was destroyed by an earthquake and was rebuilt to reflect its history and is known for its art deco architecture. It is also known for wineries and is better known as the Hawke’s Bay region in the wine world. It surprised both of us how large this city was and how disconnected it was even though it is a port city including cruise ships.

We stopped and ate lunch at Church Winery before checking into our hotel. We again found that a lot of businesses had interesting hours as finding anything open for dinner that evening proved difficult. Additionally, one of the most recommended vineyards was closed Tuesday and Wednesday’s since Covid so we had to scratch that off of our list.

The next morning, Jess wanted me to swim in the ocean in front of our hotel so we made our way there for me to almost get in the water when I realized my goggles nose piece was broken. Well, lucky for me, I brought three pairs, so Jess went back to the hotel and brought me a spare pair. I guess it’s good to be prepared and to learn that they were broken that day, but to say I wasn’t in a good mood is putting it lightly. However, I did get in and swim a bit.

After the spectacular start to the morning, it was time to go tour some wineries by bike. Napier promotes itself as having hundreds of miles of trails in the area. Most of those are nice gravel roads so we rented Jess an eBike and I rented a hybrid. This is the first time I can actually say that the terrain was mostly flat since we arrived in New Zealand.

We had a great stop at Brookfield winery that was more reminiscent of what I am used to with tastings as the staff stayed with us to talk about the wines, not just drop off a preselected flight and a piece of paper.

The next morning before checking out of the hotel, I went for a run along the water and found the most incredible business idea, a Coffee Bus! Instead of a traditional food truck, a bus was converted so it could have inside seating as well as serving walk up customers. I don’t know the health code rules here, but I thought this was genius enough that on our way out of town I made sure we stopped by and sampled the quality and can report that it lived up to expectations!

Taupō

Wow, where did the time go? I can’t believe that vacation is almost over and it’s eerily close to race day. It’s also time to trust the process again as I had reserved a house using https://www.holidayhouses.co.nz. I had a ton of interaction with the purveyor, but had transacted $0 even at my request to Venmo, Zelle, or Apple Pay a deposit as they preferred cash. Well, it went just fine and we had a full home we could finally unpack all of our bags. While we weren’t necessarily living out of suit case the last ten days, we definitely hadn’t fully unpacked all of our stuff just because we knew we were going to have to pack it up again.

It was nice to get things arranged and situated just to know that everything was still there, but that’s when I ran into problem two and three of the trip. After the swim in Napier, my Garmin decided that the start/stop button didn’t want to work. While it is a touch screen, you can’t start an activity without those buttons. Garmin was nice enough to send me a replacement to Las Vegas, but it meant that I had to rely on my Apple Watch for the race. While some may laugh that I have two smart watches, having a spare definitely had an advantage. Next up, my fast running shoes had severe wear on the heel. I’m not sure how this happened or why I hadn’t checked them at all before leaving, but this is the one thing I didn’t have a spare for. Oh well, I was mostly confident that they would survive another 13 miles and that would have to work.

Check-in

Jess and I headed into town to do the official check-in which was easier than anticipated including the wetsuit inspection that they had warned us about. This was the first time I started feeling the difference between a standard race and a World Championship. Obviously, there’s a larger number of participants, but everything just seemed amplified. There were a ton more scheduled events throughout the week that I tried to participate in.

Maori Rock Carvings

I told you we met Melissa in Hahei, well she had shared an excursion in Taupō that she was doing and 14 Las Vegas people showed up to experience it together. This was a cool experience in general but it was amazing to see such a large group that had traveled around the world to be in the same spot. While most of us were in a photo together in St. George, there was definitely something different about being in Taupō.

The sail was nice and the Captain shared a few details that were interesting about the lake in general. We made our way to the bay where the carvings were and they are spectacular. They were carved in the 1970s, but the fact they are not ancient does nothing to diminish their magnificence.

Parade of Nations

At the World Championship events they do a Parade of Nations following a ceremonial welcome. They introduce every country and the number of participants and we followed a path that went along the run course towards the finish line. It was great to see the members representing their smaller countries and imagine how difficult it was for some of them to get New Zealand.

Welcome Banquet

The welcome banquet was a fun experience. They started with an impressive Māori presentation. After all of the excitement of the start, Jess had had enough and we left before they went over the rules we already know that they have to say they told you about.

Huka Falls

In between Taupō and Rotorua were a few scenic stops that I wanted to see. Huka Falls is an easily accessible scenic stop.

After Huka Falls we made it to another geothermal area called Craters of the Moon that had a short walk around some really interesting steam vents.

Finally, we made it to Wairakei Terraces & Thermal Health Spa. For a reasonable fee, they let you in and swim in their pools. They are at four different temperatures from hot to hottest but the minerals are supposed to be good for the skin so we sampled them all.

Rotorua

On Friday, we finally made it Rotorua and can confirm that it does in fact smell like Sulfur. The highlight of this trip was our stop at the Kiwi Conservatory. The Kiwi is the endangered native bird to New Zealand and this is the place that is trying to get them off the endangered list. We learned a lot about them before we actually got to see them in a temporary enclosure before they are released to the wild. We also got to see a hatchling. No photos were allowed inside because they are nocturnal birds and they want to protect them, but the photos of the demos are still pretty impressive.

We also stopped by the Redwoods and while beautiful, Sequoia National Park is on a whole other level. But, when you realize you can quickly go from lake to grasslands to redwoods forest it makes you appreciate how amazing the landscape of New Zealand is. I thought we were cool when we can go skiing and boating in the same day, but they definitely have us beat.

Women’s Race

We woke up at a normal time and made our way to town to see what we could of the woman’s race. We didn’t attempt to see the start of the swim but we did catch quite a few of our Las Vegas people exiting the water on their way to transition. The rest of the day we just popped back and forth from spots along the run course until we could greet the finishers. It was fun to watch and cheer everyone on.

Practice

In the few days I was in Taupō I did get in some practice in all three disciplines.

🚴🏼‍♂️I did one last ride in the town of Taupō before affixing my race number, loading the bento with Gu, checking tire pressures, adding Silca Super Secret Drip wax and affixing the FulGaz bike course sticker

🏊‍♂️ For practice swims, Ironman actually had designated practice swims all week from 7-10am that were monitored. Now I could have easily just jumped in the lake in front of our house at any time, this was a way to acclimate to the actual start line and hopefully get comfortable in the water with assistance available. I made it there on Thursday and Friday mornings and can’t say that it went swimmingly. It was somewhat of a chaotic mess as a lot of people took the advantage of the opportunity and there was no one monitoring the number of people starting. Everyone was very considerate, but with that many people swimming in both directions it was just a bit chaotic. The water wasn’t any colder than the lake at home I had just been in a few weeks back or the ocean in Napier so I knew it was going to be nearly perfect. The visibility is crystal clear which I think might actually be part of my problem. While it can be pretty to look at and that should be the focus compared to endless views of a lane line, for some reason it hasn’t been the case for me. I never did make it out to the first green buoy which means I also didn’t make it around the square they had laid out, but I did focus on time in the water and getting comfortable being uncomfortable so I made laps towards one of the volunteers. There were a few times where swimmers coming back towards shore at an angle ended up swimming on top of me, but it was actually a good thing as it forced me to focus on breathing and not my location. None of it was intentional and overall was a great opportunity to have, I’m just mad that I didn’t make myself just go to the green buoy. I’m sure it would have made the next few nights of sleep a lot better.

🏃🏻‍♂️On Saturday while the women were out on the bike I did a little run on the run course. I ran into a rowdy group of fans that were even more energetic on the men’s race that were thrilled to be asked to be part of a photo. I’m sure someone has a shot of them on Sunday, but they were hard to miss.

Race Report

We made it race day! I wake up before my alarm and eat 4 of my kids apple sauce sachets I found at the grocery store, banana and protein shake and pace around the house trying to remember my mantra for the swim and the entire day.

Transition

It’s an interesting morning in transition as there isn’t much to do since the bike and run bags were dropped off the night before. I add the hydration bottles to my bike, attach my Garmin bike computer and make sure it’s working and do a hand air pressure check. I’m not sure why, but I normally always use a pump and make sure the pressure is right, but they felt exactly the same as when I had dropped it off and honestly, I probably use a bit too high of a pressure anyway so with the rougher pavement I didn’t see a reason in making sure it was perfect.

It was now time to take the long walk to the swim start. Considering my nerves, I was actually glad that my age group was the first starting after the professionals and physically challenged groups. I’m used to starting in the back at other self seeded events, but the last group was actually scheduled to start two hours after my group did and that just seemed like a really LONG time to be waiting to start.

Once we arrived we could see the opening celebration, but I was more worried about my wetsuit and a bathroom so I’m that I was able to see it after the fact so I could appreciate the work that went into the preparation for this event.

Swim

It’s really is almost go time now. All of the stress, training, planning, etc is now almost over. I focused on reminding myself to just trust the process and . We started staging ourselves in groups near the start line and a few of us start chatting about where we’re from, how we got here, how long we’ve been in New Zealand and other small which is one way that normally helps calm my nerves.

Here was my mantra I repeated to myself for the swim: 1) Just get to the green buoy. 2) I love swimming! The reason I focused on #1 was that first green buoy was only 300M away and that is less than ALL of my warmup swims have been for a year. After getting there, you might as well make the left and then the final left is less than 10 minutes. Breaking it down that way seemed like a good idea. #2 was something I learned at TriDot Pool School. Basically telling yourself you love something you’re not a fan of at the beginning eventually makes it true. So, I didn’t scream it out loud like we did in San Diego, but I definitely used it subconsciously.

It is now my turn to start the swim and when I hear the beep I tell myself, “I love swimming!” and get myself into the water. As I go from a walk to the horizontal swim position, I take my first few strokes and BAM! the doubt comes right back front and center. I refused to listen and just told myself get to that Green Buoy! I started settling into a normal swim and all of a sudden it’s time to turn left. The day before the race I met with Coach Tedd and he told me that he planned to stay left of the buoys on the long section and somehow on my next sighting that’s where I am and that’s where I stayed. Unlike St George where I sighted kayak to kayak, I never “saw” one on that day; I knew they were there but I never actively looked to see where they were, I was just focused on the numbers on the buoys increasing. In fact, I started to realize that I didn’t have to sight as often as normal because I could see the anchor line the buoys were attached to in the crystal clear water. The next day I bumped into Kurt Madden and he told me he used them like a lane line in a pool and didn’t really need to sight. I think that is what I did a bit subconsciously, but it is definitely a strategy in future races where visibility is this clear. Pre-race I also had wanted to focus on my head position and hopefully finding some feet to draft off of, but I was just in the zone focusing on swimming straight and all of a sudden it was the final left turn. That meant it was less than 10 minutes to go! I made the left and just kept swimming until it was too shallow and it was time to get back in the vertical position.

Swim Data:
Distance - 2,093 yd
Calories Burned: 604
Avg HR - 125 bpm
Max HR - 142 bpm
Moving time - 39:01
Avg Pace - 1:52 / 100 y

The bike

I’ve conquered the swim and waved to my fans and now it’s time to start the easy part of the day, the bike. Or at least that is what I thought. I get my gear bag in transition, get my helmet, shoes, sunscreen on and my wetsuit in the bag and head to get my bike and begin the ride. As I head out of Taupō I know that it’s a climb, but my bike computer is reading really low power numbers so I swap to the crank based power meter and the effort matches what I feel. It was odd, but just another problem to solve in the moment and why it’s nice to have options. I knew based on speed and hills that I was working so even if I didn’t have that information I would have been fine.

About thirty minutes into the bike as people are starting to get settled after their swim, I finally realize the difference between a World Championship and a normal race. Since my age group was the first that started after the Professionals, the herd of real athletes starts the onslaught of passing on the right. I look and see that my average speed is right around 20mph so I feel confident that things are going well for me and that I’ll finish the bike under 3 hours so just keep doing what I can do.

On the back half of the bike there is a definite headwind but I’m still making good time and focusing on eating and drinking regularly. Then my back starts bothering me and I stand up to stretch a few more times than I would have expected. I wish I knew what caused it because in longer training rides I didn’t even have this feeling. Oh well, only another 30 minutes or so and then I can stretch out my back as I pound the pavement with my feet.

I even took time to enjoy the moment and decided to do the obligatory pose when I saw one of the photographers.

Luckily for me, another photographer got an actual unposed photo of me that I really liked a few miles down the road.

As I arrive at transition I see I’m right around 2:45 minutes and 20+ mph which makes me happy even knowing that I still have a half marathon to go.

At the same time, some guy comes in WAY too hot and goes over the handlebars at the dismount line. He seemed to be fine but I have no idea why anyone would want to risk that for even 10 seconds.

Bike Data:
Distance: 55.65 miles
Calories Burned: 2,884
Avg HR: 137
Max HR: 151
Total Time: 2:46:08
Avg Speed: 20.1 MPH
Avg Power: 203W
Max Power: 476W
Normalized Power: 208W
Avg Cadence: 79 RPM
Elevation Gain: 2,349 ft

The run

Well now it’s time for the parade laps. As I leave transition and we make our way to the boat harbor I wonder to myself how long until we start heading along the lake? It seems further away than it should but we’re finally on our way back along the lake path that I’ve seen all week. It’s nice to be thinking of all these random things because it just means everything is fine. And then I get a weird upper stomach cramp. I don’t normally cramp so I’m perplexed, but I tell myself just eat, drink and you’ll be finished in less than two hours. And that’s about the last time I even thought about the cramp, except I was very diligent to eat and drink because I didn’t want to have think about it again.

I also remember thinking to myself, this isn’t exactly as flat as they promised. There’s one specific hill with about 2 miles to the turnaround/finish that I actually see some people walk.

I remember from the women’s race the day before, it is definitely not cool outside so I take ice at the aid stations and put in my suit pouch on my neck.

Seeing people I know cheering is a definite boost and they are spread out sporadically where I see them twice per lap. Melissa’s husband Ted specifically reminds me to stay hydrated as well every time I see him.

Run Data:
Distance: 13.18 miles
Calories Burned: 1,732
Avg HR: 146
Max HR: 160
Total Time: 1:55:15
Avg Speed: 8:45 / mi
Avg Power: 293W
Avg Cadence: 168
Elevation Gain: 417 ft

Finish!

For some reason I like to count down and even though the course has oddly seemed longer than I had anticipated, the 3/4 mark meant there was only 5k to go all the rest of the days negative feelings disappear and I get a little emotional knowing that I WILL finish this race and all of the things that happened to get me here. I also somehow think that I’m going to negative split the last 5k after the last big hill, but even when I swing my arms faster to pick up the pace, the feet don’t seem to be cooperating. I know that there’s more in the tank as I audibly congratulate a few that pass me, but I’m stuck in turtle mode. And then there’s the last turn towards the finish and that emotion turns to elation and I just know the FinisherPix photos are going to make me look like it wasn’t as hard as it has been since paying for this race. But know this, it was! The volunteers that greet everyone at the finish are overly helpful and genuinely wanting to assist the finishers. I felt fine but the one assigned to me followed me to the next handoff. It was really well done and genuinely appreciated by all participants.

Random Thoughts

Locals

Over our entire time in Taupō, the locals generally seemed to appreciate all of the strangers disrupting their town. I never heard anyone complain that roads were closed for two days or any complaints. Ironman worked with the local school district to have kids write each athlete a letter. They were very well received and read by every athlete I talked to.

Community

I mentioned this a few times already, but it was really cool to share this experience with people I knew. It really is a great group of like minded individuals. Some retired, some younger, but all just happy to be in New Zealand and do their best and share tips and travel stories.

Gear Pickup

After two weeks and two great days of racing, it was time to head back to the house and get ready for our flight the next day. I enter the transition area and get my run and swim bags exactly where they are supposed to be but when I return to get my bike, it is nowhere to be found. During the race at the end of the bike segment you simply hand off your bike to volunteers that are supposed to get it back to its spot in transition as you grab your running bag. The transition area to accommodate 3,000 bikes was massive and it took a bit longer than I wanted for the poor volunteer that was nearby to find someone that had any authority to find it, but ultimately it was found. I am curious to know where it ended up and what was transposed, but it was found, so unfortunately I don’t get to shop for a replacement (yet).

The Ugly

Well I’m leaving this for the end because I can. Even though I know that everything went well, I also know that there was so much negative energy prior to race day that there were times that I thought it would be better to just watch the race. Even though I know I’ve done this before and I’m in better shape than I was in May, I felt pressure that everyone knew I was here and was going to be watching and if I didn’t start the race than that would somehow be easier than doing what I do 12 hours a week.

No matter how many times I told myself to just trust the training, enjoy the moment and I love swimming there was still a lack of confidence in putting it all together.

Conclusion

As I reflect on my journey to the 2024 Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Taupō, New Zealand, I feel accomplished and grateful. The planning, training, and the unforgettable experiences throughout the trip have all contributed to a remarkable adventure. From exploring the stunning landscapes of New Zealand's North Island to overcoming the challenges leading up to race day, every moment has been a testament to perseverance and passion. This journey was never just about the race itself but also about embracing new experiences, meeting incredible people, and creating lasting memories. As I look back, I am reminded of the importance of trusting the process, believing in myself, and most importantly, cherishing the journey as much as the destination. This adventure is something I'll definitely cherish, and I'm excited to see where my next journey takes me.