Second blog of the day - (this is what happens when I haven't been keeping my diary up to date). And as I have just read Teri's novel about Day 1 of the camp I have taken the easy option, and copied and pasted most of her words, as she has covered Day One - Thanks Teri (Terienzo) for allowing me to do this:)
IronMaori TOA camp - This was a training camp in Taupo for all those who have competed in IronMaori and had entered to do IRONMAN! I would seriously enter another Ironman just to go to the camp...well I'll see after March 1st that is.
We were luckily enough to stay at Shirley...'s dad's whare. 9 of us. Damian Dames Hawe and Wiremu Wineera and Aunties Popsy Tatana, Lee-Anne Willis , Shirley Day, Mel Rika, Jacque Webber, Ria Tomoana (my actual real aunty) & Teri. It was the best 3 nights with these guys.
Friday we arrived at our briefing a tad late and straight into a million kihis. Heather spoke about the weekends plan and we were told that Maori TV would be at the swim start on Saturday morning...1st of all woohoo TV, second shurrrrt I (Teri) forgot we had a swim on that morning and I didn't bring my wetsuit...enter Kerry Hiha and a wetsuit. Thank you!
Got back to the whare aboard the Hawe-Express and we all prepped what we needed for the 40min swim, 6.5hr bike and 30min run the next day. The kitchen bench was full of all sorts of food. Bread, bagels, cereals, eggs, protein powders, electrolytes, lollies, power bars, gels (not hair gel), perpetuem, nuts, chippies, bananas, and of course the faves, marshmallow slice, choc slice, peanut brownies, fruit cake...
Early morning wake up to some irritating song by Rhianna 'ya, ya, ya' or something. Snooze...'ya, ya, ya'... We were a bunch of chatter boxes making sure we had everything. Aunty Mel aka Camp mother letting us know it's time to leave. We get to the lake and it's totally the opposite from the day before. They day before you could have SURFED on the lake. It was warm, people were ready I had my wetsuit on and off goes the Hawe-Express to collect something he forgot at the house...
Lake Taupo is crystal clear. Got some good tips the night before from Wayne about swimming in the same direction with the sand groove lines on the ground. Seemed I had just started when the first guys were already turning around so turned around and headed back. Breakfast at the whare was eggs on toast, coffee and a 1/2 bagel. Mel giving us our 10min call before we all left together to meet up with everyone else. I must say we looked pretty cool. Some were wearing the TOA kakahu and looked so smart, pretty good feeling watching these machines in their gears riding on their machine bikes and I'm with them.
Arrive at the Mobil station and there's Toa clothing, flash bikes, a few space helmets and inspiration everywhere. I (Teri) went inside and the lady asked me if I was going for a ride with my family...I told her I was . We all lined up got a few photos, Maori TV was there so I did a double loop around and made the cut!! haha
6.5hrs is a long time. It helped that there were so many of us on the course and again we looked MEAN!!..but still that's a long time.
Our Roto-Neke crew all did what we had to do. Woody, well that guy is an amazing athlete. Aunty Popsy keeping them boys on their toes the whole 2 laps and working with another machine Hana. Jacque out of nowhere hoons past me on the hill and didn't see her until we got home 180km banked for her. Uncle Dames heading back to tautoko Jacqs. Mel first time on the meke-fied EMC and finished her longest ride to date! Lee-Anne after a bit of help from Lee when her bottle cage was hanging sideways makes biking this distance almost look fun. Aunty Ria well I passed her....only cos Katy had a bit of mechanical problem but I still passed her. Shirley the grinding machine is too quick for most on the bike. And me, well the 1st lap was good focussed on what I had to do, in the right zone eating and drinking good. the 2nd lap..eerrrgghhhh. Well I had great company thanks to David Jones and he talked nearly the whole way. Sore feet, sore bum, forgetting to eat and drink. Heart rate telling me to go faster. It was basically crap lol
Got back and into a 30min run. Yes our Trusty Tomoana senses made us choose the roads with the steepest hills, ran past a wedding, by the swim start and along the start of the run course and basically straight into the Waikato River when we got back. The water was lovely....and a bit swift...as Aunty Ria and I are swiftly heading towards the control gates (not really but if we were crap swimmers we would of been)...oh yes nothing like some resistance swim training.
Back inside, skulled some chocolate milk and a protein shake and nearly it was nearly dinner time. Lasagne with spuds and salad, we were fed well. The whole weekend we were fed well, the kai on the bike course was mint. (not the herb but yum) They had this banana loaf, the kind where you had to have at least 3 pieces. The crunchy on the top and nice and yummy on the inside kind of loaf. The kind where you think I'll do another Ironman just to have some more of this at the next Toa camp kind of banana loaf. Our supporters made this awesome weekend even better!!!!
After kai Heather asked a few people to talk about why they entered to do Ironman. Sally Muir - can't really say much except what an inspiration she is. And man can she bike!!! Ashley Te Whare 'didn't cry' but I did as he told his story. The man!!! Seriously the man!! Heather then picks me to talk. Must be because I'm a great public speaker....INT. Definitely not when I open up with 'My name's Teri but people call me Terienzo". Think only Dan calls me that and I know he's only mocking me haha. A guy named Alastair cracked us up, Kerrie Blackmore mentioned how her husband entered her for Ironman....without her knowing....But I think Aunty Mel reached right into our heart and souls and got to the reason why many people choose to do an Ironman. A true, honest and raw korero from my mate and I'm not sure how many dry eyes were around.
Back to basecamp but not before checking out some machines in the garage of the place we were at. Joseph Eriha said I can have his Specialized S-Works beast of a Shiv, not really but I'll keep trying. Boys and their toys aye.
Hot drink, some slice and biscuits and a few more rolls on the foam roller before heading to bed.
Thanks Teri for your take on Day One xoxo
Friday we arrived at our briefing a tad late and straight into a million kihis. Heather spoke about the weekends plan and we were told that Maori TV would be at the swim start on Saturday morning...1st of all woohoo TV, second shurrrrt I (Teri) forgot we had a swim on that morning and I didn't bring my wetsuit...enter Kerry Hiha and a wetsuit. Thank you!
Got back to the whare aboard the Hawe-Express and we all prepped what we needed for the 40min swim, 6.5hr bike and 30min run the next day. The kitchen bench was full of all sorts of food. Bread, bagels, cereals, eggs, protein powders, electrolytes, lollies, power bars, gels (not hair gel), perpetuem, nuts, chippies, bananas, and of course the faves, marshmallow slice, choc slice, peanut brownies, fruit cake...
Early morning wake up to some irritating song by Rhianna 'ya, ya, ya' or something. Snooze...'ya, ya, ya'... We were a bunch of chatter boxes making sure we had everything. Aunty Mel aka Camp mother letting us know it's time to leave. We get to the lake and it's totally the opposite from the day before. They day before you could have SURFED on the lake. It was warm, people were ready I had my wetsuit on and off goes the Hawe-Express to collect something he forgot at the house...
Lake Taupo is crystal clear. Got some good tips the night before from Wayne about swimming in the same direction with the sand groove lines on the ground. Seemed I had just started when the first guys were already turning around so turned around and headed back. Breakfast at the whare was eggs on toast, coffee and a 1/2 bagel. Mel giving us our 10min call before we all left together to meet up with everyone else. I must say we looked pretty cool. Some were wearing the TOA kakahu and looked so smart, pretty good feeling watching these machines in their gears riding on their machine bikes and I'm with them.
Arrive at the Mobil station and there's Toa clothing, flash bikes, a few space helmets and inspiration everywhere. I (Teri) went inside and the lady asked me if I was going for a ride with my family...I told her I was . We all lined up got a few photos, Maori TV was there so I did a double loop around and made the cut!! haha
6.5hrs is a long time. It helped that there were so many of us on the course and again we looked MEAN!!..but still that's a long time.
Our Roto-Neke crew all did what we had to do. Woody, well that guy is an amazing athlete. Aunty Popsy keeping them boys on their toes the whole 2 laps and working with another machine Hana. Jacque out of nowhere hoons past me on the hill and didn't see her until we got home 180km banked for her. Uncle Dames heading back to tautoko Jacqs. Mel first time on the meke-fied EMC and finished her longest ride to date! Lee-Anne after a bit of help from Lee when her bottle cage was hanging sideways makes biking this distance almost look fun. Aunty Ria well I passed her....only cos Katy had a bit of mechanical problem but I still passed her. Shirley the grinding machine is too quick for most on the bike. And me, well the 1st lap was good focussed on what I had to do, in the right zone eating and drinking good. the 2nd lap..eerrrgghhhh. Well I had great company thanks to David Jones and he talked nearly the whole way. Sore feet, sore bum, forgetting to eat and drink. Heart rate telling me to go faster. It was basically crap lol
Got back and into a 30min run. Yes our Trusty Tomoana senses made us choose the roads with the steepest hills, ran past a wedding, by the swim start and along the start of the run course and basically straight into the Waikato River when we got back. The water was lovely....and a bit swift...as Aunty Ria and I are swiftly heading towards the control gates (not really but if we were crap swimmers we would of been)...oh yes nothing like some resistance swim training.
Back inside, skulled some chocolate milk and a protein shake and nearly it was nearly dinner time. Lasagne with spuds and salad, we were fed well. The whole weekend we were fed well, the kai on the bike course was mint. (not the herb but yum) They had this banana loaf, the kind where you had to have at least 3 pieces. The crunchy on the top and nice and yummy on the inside kind of loaf. The kind where you think I'll do another Ironman just to have some more of this at the next Toa camp kind of banana loaf. Our supporters made this awesome weekend even better!!!!
After kai Heather asked a few people to talk about why they entered to do Ironman. Sally Muir - can't really say much except what an inspiration she is. And man can she bike!!! Ashley Te Whare 'didn't cry' but I did as he told his story. The man!!! Seriously the man!! Heather then picks me to talk. Must be because I'm a great public speaker....INT. Definitely not when I open up with 'My name's Teri but people call me Terienzo". Think only Dan calls me that and I know he's only mocking me haha. A guy named Alastair cracked us up, Kerrie Blackmore mentioned how her husband entered her for Ironman....without her knowing....But I think Aunty Mel reached right into our heart and souls and got to the reason why many people choose to do an Ironman. A true, honest and raw korero from my mate and I'm not sure how many dry eyes were around.
Back to basecamp but not before checking out some machines in the garage of the place we were at. Joseph Eriha said I can have his Specialized S-Works beast of a Shiv, not really but I'll keep trying. Boys and their toys aye.
Hot drink, some slice and biscuits and a few more rolls on the foam roller before heading to bed.
Thanks Teri for your take on Day One xoxo
 |
| Teri |
'Day Two' by Lee-Anne
Another early start and Mel giving us the 10 min call. Today was the run on the course. My aim was for 2 laps - approx. 28k.
After a group start it didn't take to long to spread out with me leading the way close to the back.. Well the others had taken off but a few of us just plodded along aiming to complete it. Thankfully I sussed out where I could get a drink from and where the public loos were on the first lap, plus we had an 'Official Water Station' that had been organised at the turn around. The first lap went well and on the return leg I think I said to one of the amazing support crew this is nearly fun. Haha the next lap wasn't quiet so easy - 4 kms into it I really needed a loo stop, and then another, and once I stopped I couldn't start again (both the running & loo stops). I tried run/walking and that wasn't working, but I managed to get to the water stop at the turn around at the same time as Ru, so we both ended up walking & chatting to the end. Even though we were last (some only had to do 1 lap depending on what their coach had given them), it was amazing to get to the end and have a whanau relaxing on the grass waiting for us. Like Teri said - you nearly want to enter Ironman again just to do this camp.
After the run, it was home for a shower, lunch in town and then a swim before dinner. And the Roto-Neke were late again (umm might have had something to do with Terienzo having her hair straightened but then again not sure any of us were in a rush to move). Definitely worth going for chicken fettucine, rolls, salad and dessert. After dinner we had some Q&A about Ironman. By this stage we were all tired and once home it was pretty much a drink, more slice and bed ready for the alarm in the morning for our 3.8km swim on the course.
Day 3 - Swim
Perfect weather - cloudy and calm - hopefully Ironman day will be like this.
We were joined by Lynley Browns group for the swim. Lynley Brown has been runner up in Ironman and she shared her experience and information with us about the swim. Lynley and her husband were also our swim support on stand up paddle boards. Being the plodder I started to the side and close to the back and think for the first 700m I didn't go to crooked but somehow between there and close to the turn around I managed to do a 90dg turn and decided to start swimming across the lake - Sighting isn't my strong point or my week point it is non existant!! Once back on the right side of the buoys I finally made it the turn around and back to the start. Its a looong way, but was so neat to see a wall of black wetsuits waiting for me to finish. What I didn't know was that there were a few behind me that had done the same thing a Terienzo:) This was the longest swim I had done, so was one happy camper, but realised I really need to start sighting. I have 4 weeks to try and sort this out BUT then with 1700 people swimming in Ironman maybe I can just follow along without sighting..... Just saying....
This camp was a great weekend, great training, so inspiring to see and meet all our IronMaori Toa - and really miss everyone.
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