Monday, March 8, 2010

Gina Crawford's 2010 IM New Zealand Race Report




I raced Ironman New Zealand on the weekend. Being the defending champion I really wanted to win this race again and I knew my main competition Jo Lawn (7 time champion of the race) would be tough. I therefore increased my training significantly in the months leading up to the race. I usually train 25-30 hours per week but I increased this to 35-40 hours per week. Of course I now know that was a mistake and the load was just too much for me. 2.5 weeks prior to the race I developed a compressed nerve in my toe which meant it was too painful to run or even walk, and cycling was not helping either, so it was swimming and aqua-jogging for me only, which of course was not ideal for my build-up, but it was the only thing I could do if I wanted the nerve to settle down enough for me to be able to run a marathon. 

So after a very good swim, I was out onto my Ceepo TT killer in front. At the 30km mark I was joined by Jo Lawn and we stayed together until 100km swapping the lead and staying the legal distance apart. She then increased her pace and I was feeling too tired to go with her. I then came off the bike 2.5 minutes behind and I believed I would make up the time as I have always been the faster runner, but unfortunately I felt tired, heavy and flat. I guess the lack of training in the 2 weeks before made me lose some of my speed and fitness, and I had to settle for 2nd place. Jo went on to win the race in a course record in tough conditions putting up an amazing performance. So although of course I wanted to win, I know that I learnt a hugely valuable lesson that I am sure will help me with my races in the future. 

The race ends my season here in the Southern hemisphere and I can't complain with 1st places at both Ironman Western Australia and Challenge Wanaka and a 2nd place at Ironman New Zealand. So next up for me is 2 ironman races in the States. Ironman St George (May 1st) and Ironman Coeur D 'Alene  (June 27th)!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, Gina! You are an inspiration to many!

Kind regards,
Bonnie Siegel