Port Macquarie Ironman report - Julia Rutsch

Ironman number 2 in Port Macquarie was quite an adventure. I have finally come to understand what it means to be an Ironman. It's not about executing a race plan perfectly and delivering a PB. Coach Mark got it spot on: "It's about problem solving in the toughest arena when you are physically and mentally challenged all the way with no weapon other than determination".

After doing Busselton Ironman in December I swore myself I wouldn't do another Ironman again...... oh well a few weeks rest and a successful bike camp made me change my mind and follow my IM buddy Kylie to Port Macquarie....... smile. We had just under three months to get through another 2 blocks of IM training. Even though the weather wasn't great I enjoyed the long rides down to Bobin Head, up Mount White and to Peats Ridge. I felt my bike skills were improving and I was on track for a sub 6hrs at Port. My running was strong and thanks to the "compression socks" (I know how hot they look...... not........) I remained injury free. Regular massages, continuous stretching and healthy nutrition also contributed to my enjoyful IM training. 

However a few things took place that I hadn't planned for and were outside my control. I got a promotion at work (lucky me..... smile) and was meant to move into a new role with more responsibility - two months out of IM. Why do I work for an Investment Bank again??? Oh, did I mention that I had to work in the Singapore office for a week and had the pleasure to ride on a 5 lanes freeway around Singapore to do my bike training? Last but not least my relationship fell apart. So overall far too many things happening in my life which made it very difficult to rest and recover for the big sessions.  The hardest thing about IM is not the race itself, it's getting to the start line injury free and rested. So it wasn't a surprise to me when I fell sick with a virus 2 weeks out of IM. I was devastated. Coach Mark and Chris ordered me to stop training and rest (I think they said something along the lines of "stop being too Swiss and become more Aussie, chill out mate........ ").  I got better but not as quickly as I wanted. I was stuck with a headcold until race day.

Thursday before the race Kylie and I drove up to Port Macquarie. It rained and rained and rained. When we registered on Friday we had to fight our way through mud. We even went for a swim in the river which was so brown and full of debris. At the pasta dinner in the eve competitors joked about having to carry our bikes through the mud on race day........ little did we know that it would become reality. Saturday the sun came out and we thought that the weather had finally turned after 6 days of consecutive rain. We registered our bikes in the afternoon and relaxed at home. And then the rain was back.............. 

Sunday morning was race day. After a good nights sleep I got up at 4am to have my brekkie and do some stretches. We made our way to transition to check our bikes and prepare for the swim start. What a sight. Transition had turned into a big mud field. People sinking ankle deep into mud. The biggest challenge was to put your wetsuit on without falling over in the mud......... yummie!!! 6.35am was race start. My plan was to stay in the front of the orange caps and swim sub 1hr 20min. As the water was very brown you could hardly see anything. It felt a bit like a battle field as some of the bigger guys would continuously bash you without noticing it. At one page I got so angry with one bloke that I swam on top of him to teach him a lesson. Only then did the realise that he had been hitting me for the past few minutes..... don't mess with the Swiss Miss! As we were swimming in a river we had to deal with the incoming tide. That meant that it was super slow going up but heaps faster on the way back. I clocked 1hr20min coming out of the water. I was happy with that. Running up to transition I noticed that I couldn't undo my wetsuit. The zipper got stuck. None of the girls in the changing tent could get me out of the wetsuit. At that stage I asked for someone to go and fetch a scissor to cut me out of it...... the girls wouldn't let me though. I had to run out again and around the tent to the boys and ask for the help there. A tall lad just ripped my wetsuit open. Very relieved I ran back and put my bike shoes on. Off I went (did I mention that we had to carry our bikes through the mud????)

It was a cold morning and I was glad that I had put on my HERT top and arm warmers. On my first lap on the bike course my speedometer fell off and my HR monitor stopped working. I was flying blind....... however I was still feeling ok and thought I could master those hills (they were proper hills like in Switzerland - I got flashbacks from Jindabyne). I did my first lap sub 2hrs and was on track.  And then I came back to those hills again and the rain started........ I suddenly realised that my tank was empty. I had been kidding myself. There is no way I could get through the race today. The virus had taken too much out of me. Coming back into town after lap 2 I saw coach Chris. I indicated to him that I was feeling unwell and wanted to give up. He told me to slow down and take it easy. I had done all the training I need to get through this. That's where my battle started. For the following 9 hours I was in continuous pain and battling with myself to give up. I was disappointed to realise that I couldn't do a PB. I had to change my strategy, keep thinking positively and set myself little goals. Fortunately I had a big support crew out there who did their best to get me through the race (thanks Helen & Ben, coach Chris, Gemma, Jen, Cath, Tara, Dickie, Bondi Fit crew incl Spot, Katheryn, Lee, Kylie's parents etc..... the list goes on). They saw I was in trouble!

After 6hrs and 30min of continuous rain I came back into transition; very happy to give my bike back, clean my feet and put my runners on. 2 down, 1 to go. I told myself worst case I just walk the marathon. I wouldn't give up right now. I started running and felt ok. I took little steps, kept the tempo down, made sure that I was eating a gel every 20min and kept my fluids up. After one lap I could see that Kylie was in trouble and I was closing in on her. Her ankle injury had come back. So it wasn't a surprise when I overtook her on my last lap. Luckily the rain had stopped for the run which was great. There were heaps of people lined up along the race course. I loved the one big note that said "suck it up princess" while we had to run up this hill to get onto the headlands. My spirits were up because I knew I was going to finish the race. I just didn't want to walk. I pushed myself to keep running even if it looked more like walking....... smile. On the last lap it started to get dark. We got handed our glow sticks and kept on running. My best moment was when I ran my last kilometre. I passed by Kylie's parents who I hugged and then saw the HERT crew lead by Chris. They were yelling and screaming while enjoying a cold beer (nice one!!)and giving me high fives. I had made it. The race was coming to an end. Helen passed me the Swiss flag and I ran down the finish chute. I was in tears. This race had been so difficult that it was very rewarding for me to finish in 12hrs46min. I was very fortunate to receive my IM medal from Chrissie Wellington. She asked me whether I was ok. I responded through my tears: "I am overwhelmed. In which sport do you receive a medal from a two time world champion?". It was just an amazing end to a long long day at the office!!!

Swiss Miss lessons learned

- getting to the start line healthy and injury free is more difficult than the race itself

- pick a down period at work to do an IM - balancing lifestyle with training and work is key!

- you cannot control everything, learn to deal with the unknown  

I very much enjoyed the IM training as well as the race. It won't be my last one. However the next one will be in 2010. I will be taking a well deserved break from triathlon and get back into playing the piano, do some scuba diving and spice it up with some salsa sessions. Special thanks to the coaches and my HERT training buddies.

Watch out for the Swiss Miss and her pink pinarello - she will be back sometime in the near future to focus to focus on short distance events

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