Taupo Half Ironman Race Report – LUCK

I’ve always believed that luck swings in roundabouts and this weekend was no exception.

On our way up to Taupo, Danielle’s car overheated.  This meant we were stuck on the side of the road for nearly an hour waiting for the AA man while the mercury rose.  Luckily, we were just out of Bulls and a bottle of Stop Leak in the radiator did the trick.

I had trained in mild weather so I was a little nervous about the predicted warm weather for the race.  On race day, I woke to overcast drizzle and couldn’t believe my luck! 

After my race breakfast it was time to head down to the transition area. After a thorough inspection of my gear I was in the water by 6.15am, certainly the earliest I had ever been ready for a race!

With a lingering chest cold I was nervous about the swim, the combination of cold water and intensity were sure to cause trouble.  400 metres into the swim and at my limit, a rouge wave caused me to swallow some water and start coughing … game over.  The coughing got worse and I struggled to continue swimming. I pulled to the side as swimmers were ploughing over me, put my hand in the air for assistance and waited.  A lifesaver paddled over and I held on to catch my breath.  This happened four times.  You can imagine how relieved I was to be out of the water and into T1. 

I knew Andy and Luke were in front, but the question was, by how much? The ride out was into a head wind, as I slowly made my way through the field I was jealous of those riding in bunches. I finally caught Andy who was tuck neatly in a great bunch!!! On the way back I was able to get into a group of three and we caught the large group Luke was in just before Heart Break Hill. Unfortunately for me, with all my attention on making up lost time, I hadn’t noticed that the increase in temperature.

As usual I took my time in T2, stretched my hamstrings and set off for the run.  Luke was a few hundred metres in front and I thought I’d be able to reel him in, but I just couldn’t close the gap.  The last few kilometres were a struggle; the heat was really proving to be a factor.

Upon finishing, I had the chills and didn’t think much of it.  Not long after we got back to the motel I had ONGOING stomach issues.  We thought that I was suffering from heat exhaustion and that with replacement fluids it would pass.

A trip to A & E on Sunday afternoon proved to be a very long but worthwhile experience. During the week I still couldn’t hold down food and on Thursday a doctor from the hospital called to ask if I was feeling better.  He wasn’t surprised that I wasn’t because I had food poisoning - Campylobacter.   That afternoon I saw my GP to get a strong dose of antibiotics which lead me back to full strength just in time to enjoy the Christmas celebrations.